work." In- John 5:43, He had told them t h at He came in the F a t h e r 's name. In, Jno. 8:12 He told them, "I am the. : light of the world*; he t h at followeth Me sha.Jl not walk in darkness) but shall have the light of life." i n i J n o . 8:24 He had said, "If ye believe hot...-that..X a m He, ye shall, die, in your sins," and in Jno. 8:58 He had proclaimed t h at He was before Abraham. Thes£ s t a t eme n ts of , our Lord were enough to provoke belief,- nad there been a desire to know the truth. Now H e adds My works testify to the t r u th of My statement, verse 25. He then claims — oneness with the F a t h er concerfiing those who were His sheep. They His by right of purchase • and their salvation was sure. No thieving wolf or hireling devil" could touch them because they were safe in the double: hand of the' F a t h er arid SOnvf The individuality of both F a t h er and Son They were one in t h e, work.
is here taught, and also the inseparableness of both. There is a merging of the person^ ality. They are one in purpose, in power and in attribute,, Jno. 1:49; 5:19, 20; 8:19; 9:35-37. H a w they known Him they would have known the F a t h er also, Jno. 14:7. They accused H im of blasphemy, b ut His works were the testimony t h at H e was t h e ^ true one. The hearts cf these m en were -filled with hatred toward God; their eyes were blinded; they did not w a nt to be con- / vinced. They did not w a nt to believe. Think of the good works He had wrought. He had fed the multitudes, Jno. 6:11-13, had healed the sick, had opened the eyes of the blind, had cast out demons, had raised the dead. This lesson reveals to us the deep f hatred of the h uman heart and the neces- sity .of submission of ma n 's will to. the Wil'L- of God in order t h at He may kno.tv thfjwli truth. home and broken hearts. The Blinding Doubts. "Lord if-thou hadst been here my brother had not dieck" This was the lament of both sisters. They believed in Jesus, but they doubted His power. The love of the sisters is mQ^e.'mark- • ed t h an their faith. They believed with other Jews in the resurrection, but ..relegated it to the last days, Acts 23:8; /2i:15r;.26:8,'' They knew Jesus and love4 lifnii b ut they did not understand Him. He was the resur* rection and life. The Lord teaches t h em a new truth. Verses 25 and 26 mu st be read in the light of 1 Cor. 15; 1 Thess. 4:15-17, and Rev. 20:4-6. Resurrection was only to be by His power, 4 and He was as able to raise the dead then as H e would be on the last day. H e is the life. Life is not mere existence; life is length and breadth and depth and height, while we .think of length only. ' H e only can remove, the doubts t h at linger in the human heart concerning the. eternal' things, and thank God He does remove every doubt. The w a nt of faith in these lovings sisters moved the Son of God to such sorrow that. H e grosned in Spirit, yea He wept. Twice H e wept. Once at the sight of Jerusalem in its glory, and here in the presence of death. Both times we believe because of unbelief. Unbelief of the Jews and unbelief of His friends.
Lesson XXIV—June 18th.
T HE TOMB OF LAZARUS.
Jno. 11:1-37.
Bethany was a small village on the E a s t- ern slope of the Mount of Olives, about two miles from Jerusalem. The tomb has been immortalized as the resting place of the Lord Jesus. Memory lingers at the home of the two sisters and breathes the odOr of f r a g r a nt devotion to the Master whom they loved. , ; L a z a r us was loved by his Lord.. Now Christ loved all men, b ut He tyad a peculiar love for some men and Lazarus a nd John were the recipients of special fav,or in this respect. .In t h at home we reckon that they did not sing "Oh, how I love Je sus," but "Oh, how Jesus loves me." We do, not know much of Lazarus, but the one f a ct is enough. He was the man whom Jesus loved. Ab r a h am was honored as the friend of God, L a z a r us as the loved of Jesus. The Bereaved Sisters. Lazarus was dead. The sisters had done the wisest possible thing. When he was. taken sick they sent word to the Lord. This is an important les- son. Take every sickness, every trouble, every trial to the Master. Don't trifle with it, do it at once., H e is human enough to sympathize with us and divine enough to help us. The little home was under the pall of death. It was. the old story., a broken The Beloved Brother. " He - whom thou lovest."
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