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appeared once at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself (HeD. 9 :2 6 ), just as surely “shall he appear the second time’’ (Heb. 9 :28 ). He shall have “the throne of David,” “a pnrase as definite, historically, as the throne of the Caesars, and as little admits of ‘spiritual izing,’ ” (Scofield). A real throne, a real kingdom, uni versal in extent, glorious in character. He shall reign as the “Prince of Peace,” “and of peace there shall be no end.” There will be no permanent, universal peace till He comes. And He will establish and uphold His kingdom with justice and righteousness, (Isa. 9:7, R. V .). How different things will be then! How this poor world, torn with strife, filled with uncertainty and fear, needs peace! He will bring it. How great the need for justict and righteousness! He will bring them. So at this Christmas season we look back with grateful hearts for what He accomplished at His first coming. We look forward in joyful anticipation to His. coming again with its wondrous results. And from our hearts there again rises the closing prayer of the Bible, “Even so, come, Dord Jesus” (Rev. 22:20 ). See Him in His humiliation. The same that, is a mighty God is a child born; the ancient of days becomes an infant Of a span long; the everlasting ¡Father is a Son given. Such was His condescension in taking our COMMENTS * nature upon him; thus did He hum- FROM THE ble and .empty Himself, to exalt and COMMENTARIES fill us. The Word was made flesh, H. G. Dean • and dwelt among us. God so loved the world that He gave Him. He is born to us, He is given to us, us men, and not to the angels that sinned. It is-spoken with an air of triumph, and the angel'seems to refer to these'words in the notice he gives to the shepherds of the Messiah’s having come (Luke 2: IT ), “Unto you is born, this day, a Saviour." Christ’s be ing born and given to us is, the great foundation of our hopes, and fountain of our joys, in times of greatest grief and fear. See Him in His exaltation. This child, this son, this Son of God, this Son of man, that is given to us, is in a capacity to do us a great deal of kindness; for He is invested with the highest honor, and power, so that we cannot but be happy if He be our friend. See the dignity He is advanced to, and the name He has above every name.|fc-Matthew Henry. His name shall be called WONDERFUL— not merely is this or that in Him wonderful; He is Himself entirely a wonder-—COUNSELLOR— because in His royal office (Mi- cah 4:9) by virtue of the spirit of counsel which He pos sesses (Isaiah 11 :2 ). He always knows how to find and bring counsel for the best good of His people; He does not need to surround Himself with counsellors, but without be ing counselled, He counsels those who are without coun sel, and He is the end of all lack of counsel for His people The mighty God— Strong God— thus named as a hero equip ped with divine power— as a mighty God surpassing the children of men— as the man in whom God exhibits Him self, and He uses His divine strength in a philanthropic gentle manner forever for the good of His people. The Everlasting Father—He is thus named not merely as the possessor of eternity; but as the tender, faithful and wise trainer, guardian and provider of His own in eternity (Is aiah 22 :21 ). He is eternally Father, as the eternal loving King as Psalm 72 describes Him. The Prince of Peace— a Prince who removes all peace-disturbing powers and se cures peace among the peoples. He will therefore be thus named on account of the devoted protection and tender provision which He bestows upon His people, and which He indeed vouchsafes to them forever— the goal and fruit of His dominion is peace.— Delitsch. Isaiah 11:1-10. Not only did Isaiah paint a wonderful portrait of the King, he drew an equally wonderful picture of the king .Isaiah 9:6-7. Y. 6. A child is born— a Son is given.
dom. It is as surprising as the King’s portrait, and dif ferent from the descriptions that could be made of any kingdom preceding it.—Amos R. Wells. It is a great vision of the future which this chapter un folds. The first and second coming of the Lord are won derfully blended together. His coming in humiliation! and His coming in exaltation are here interwoven.—A. C. Gae- belein. The Coming One.— Vs. 1-5. The blessed, person men tioned is our Lord Jesus.-—A. C. Gaebelein. Jesse, the father of David, stands for the royal house of Judah from which Christ was descended on the human side. — Àmos R. Wells. The coming One is first described as to His coming. He is to be a shoot out of the stock of Jesse, and therefore a branch out of his roots. The prophet then described His anointing, first inclu sively, in the declaration that the Spirit of Jehovah shall rest upon Him; and then particularly, in the fourfold de scription of that Spirit, which is the Spirit of wisdom and understanding; the Spirit of counsel and might; the Spirit of knowledge; and the Spirit of the fear of the Lord. This description exactly carries out the suggestiveness of the name of the child born, the son given, which the prophet had announced in that first message to the inner circle of disciples. The Spirit of wisdom and understanding is that of ithe wonderful Counsellor, The Spirit of counsel and might is that of the God-hero. The Spirit of knowledge is that of the Father of eternity. The Spirit of the fear of the Lord is that of the Prince of peace. These; as we saw when dealing with them, are the elaborations of the inclusive name, Immanuel, God with us. The Coming Day. Vs. 6-10. Finally, in poetic phrasing, the prophet described His Kingdom. It will be a Kingdom of perfect peace from which all the things which are con trary to peace, will be banished. It will be a Kingdom in which the child will be able to play in fulfilment of the first Divine intention for it. The secret of victory will be that through this coming One the earth will be filled with the knowledge of Jehovah as the waters cover the sea. The prophet then described with yet greater detail the coming day. It will be a day of the’ rule of the Root of Jesse, which is a recognition of the fact that David’s Son, the Branch, is also David’s Lord, the Root.— G. Campbell Morgan. Christ The Prince of Peace. Isa. 11:6-10;; Luke 2: 8-20. Memory Verse.— “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace.” Luke 2:14. Approach.— The 1 ittle folks will hear the beautiful Christmas story in Luke, but will also learn of Isaiah’s wonderful prophecy, and will compare it with Christ’s life to see how true it was. Draw a Christmas star, and print upon it the names of the Messiah in- ELEMENTARY cluded in Isaiah’s prophecy. Isa. 9:6. Peloubet’s Notes. Mabel L. Merrill IT ,, . . . Lesson Story.— Carroll can you tell us the beautiful story that happened a long time ago down by a riverside, in a far away land where Jesus lived when he was on earth? Fine, Carroll. The way you told the story shows you listened well. Now Paul and many of the others spent their whole life telling others of Jesus, but do you know that a long, long time before God sent Jesus down to this earth as a little baby, He told his preachers or prophets that were living then, all about Jesus, whom He (God) was going to send down here as a Saviour to save people from their sins. Those early proph ets were faithful in their preaching, and told just how Jesus would be born as a little baby; they also told where he would be born, just the kind of a place it would be, and now in our story for today, we will see that all these prophets told about, really came true on the wonderful night so long ago, when baby Jesus came into this world (Several months before Christmas, start the children who
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