The statement is prophetic. Keep on destroying this visible temple as you have been doing by your shameless desecration, by your poisoning of its religious life, by your killing the very spirit of the temple, for which it exists, and the time will come when this magnificent and costly temple will be destroyed so that not one stone shall lie upon another, as took place 43 years later by the Roman armies. Then began the spiritual kingdom of heaven, with no central material temple, the new form that grew out of the Jewish kingdom of God, like the new shoot from the stump of the old tree as foretold by Isaiah. It is a close parallel to the resurrection of Christ and his ascension. III. THE MESSAGES OF JESUS TO OUR MODERN LIFE. First. The two signs in this lesson express two opposite sides of our Christian life. They both issue from the same Love. Both are necessary while we live in an evil world. "Let no mistake be made concerning what is meant by a Christian spirit. Let us not, as is too often done, take one side of the character of Christ in forming an estimate of the whole. Men speak of the loving-kindness and gentleness in Christ as though these virtues made up his whole life. This is a great mistake. An English writer said he had found boys enough who loved God; he wanted to find one who hated the devil.” The Advance. There are times when love must be indignant. He does not love righteousness who is not indignant at sin. He does not love men who does not flame and burn like a volcano against all that is ruining and destroying men. The more intense the love, the hotter the indignation. The most terrible words ever uttered against sin were uttered by incarnate Love. The kingdom Jesus came to bring was a Kingdom of Righteousness as well as of Peace. Second. It is well to study Christ's methods of reform; his wisdom, heroism, his gentleness, his firmness, his plain truth-telling. Third. The disciples saw in the act a consuming zeal for God's house. Therefore he was a true prophet like the prophets of old. Zeal adds greatly to the power of a man. It multiplies the power of his character, his wisdom, his conscience, his talents. The zeal of Jesus was not an occasional ebullition, a fire kindled in grass or thorns, but like a fire in a coal mine. But it consumed him; it exhausted his strength; it burned up all other aims and ambitions. Better Engines and Hotter Fires. A railroad man was once asked what was the line of greatest improvement in railroads. His reply was, "Better engines and hotter fires." That is exactly what the churches and all reformers need to-day better engines, equipment, means of working, and hotter fires of zeal, till it can be said of each one of us, "The zeal of thy house hath eaten me up." Fourth. It is of the utmost importance that the young people should be taught to be reverent in Sunday school, and all religious meetings. Fifth. The Temple of our own Bodies and Souls. Know ye not that ye are a Temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? I Cor. 3: 16. Ι Know ye not that your body is a Temple of the Holy Spirit? 1 Cor. 6: 19. St. Paul warns us in connection with these statements not to "defile the Temple of God." It is well for us to ask whether any sins or thoughts or habits are defiling our souls, things which ought to be cast out as unworthy of God's presence there. And do we keep our bodies so pure, so healthy, so perfect that they are worthy of the indwelling of God? Sixth. The church buildings are Temples of God. And we all should look as earnestly as Dr. A. J. Gordon did in his dream of "How Christ came to Church," to see if any repairs can be made that will make it more perfect for its work. Are the children there ? Are the poor welcome? Are the services devotional? Is the spirit of love everywhere? The church should be the most beautiful, the most attractive place in the town. Seventh. The Sunday school is a Temple of God. Children, do you behave always in a manner worthy of a temple of God's truth and worship? Do you study your lessons before you come ? Do you join in the singing? and make the prayer your own? Are you doing anything to build it up, to gain new scholars ? LESSON V.- February 4. JESUS THE SAVIOUR OF THE WORLD.— John 3:1-21. PRINT 3:5–17. MEMORIZE vs. 5, 6. GOLDEN TEXT. — God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish but have eternal life. — JOHN 3:16. THE TEACHER AND HIS CLASS. 999 a white steed of Love, with Reason as the charioteer (Phædrus). Contrast Whateley's Future State, 222224, and the same in his Annotations on Bacon's Essays, 17, 18, on the destruction of the Psyche in the caterpillar. interpreted by Carlyle, shows the transGoethe's Tale of Tales, especially as forming power of an inner light. PLAN OF THE LESSON. Dr. Francis G. Peabody, that gracious scholar and winsome speaker, made an address at the annual meeting of the Religious Education Association (1915) on "The Religious Education of an American Child," that is, the normal, typical child which American life has produced. Among other things he said, in effect : "The problem of religious education is to lead the boy and girl to the simplicity which is in Christ.' He emphasized the thought that a child may be thoroughly SUBJECT: A Conversation on the Way grounded in Bible history and catechism and yet not know a thing about religious education. Where must religious education begin then? It must begin where the child is, and first of all, that means the home. "True education," said Doctor Peabody, "subordinates III. completeness to reality. One aspect of God, grasped, means more than a wide of Salvation. I. NICODEMUS HAS AN INTERVIEW WITH II. JESUS SHOWS HIM THE ONLY WAY QUESTIONS THAT OFTEN ARISE IN range of knowledge. One real truth, one IV. AN ILLUSTRATION OF THE WAY OF real conception of God, makes a man rich. SALVATION, FROM STORY, VS. 14, 15. AN ANCIENT V. THE MARVELLOUS LOVE OF GOD, THE ROUND TABLE. FOR RESEARCH AND DISCUSSION Nicodemus a ruler of the Jews. Why he went to Jesus; why by night. The Kingdom of heaven. Why was it necessary to be born again to belong to it? The authority of Jesus for his statements in vs. II-13. The Love of God proved by the coming of Jesus. The principle of Christ's mission as revealed in v. 17. LEARN BY HEART. Vs. 5, 14-17. THE LESSON IN ART. Nicodemus Meeting Jesus by Night, by Rembrandt, Tintoretto. Nicodemus and Jesus, from an old German Bible.* Two pictures by unknown artists. I. NICODEMUS HAS AN INTERVIEW WITH JESUS, vs. 1, 2. AN INQUIRY MEETING IN AN UPPER ROOM IN JERUSALEM. Nicodemus was a ruler of the Jews, that is a member of the Sanhedrin (John 7 : 50) the highest court of the Jews, consisting of 72 of their chief men. He belonged to the Pharisaic wing which were the more religious members, devoted to the Scriptures, in distinction from the Sadducees, who were more lax and worldly in their views, were wealthy, and in Palestine "the conduct of political affairs was largely in their hands under the Romans and the Herods." 2. The same came to Jesus by night. There were several reasons why Nicodemus went to Jesus by night, besides the timidity with which he has been charged. That he came at all was a good sign. "Nicodemus came to the fountain head, dissatisfied with the way in which his colleagues were dealing with Jesus, and resolved to judge for himself. Nothing could be more hopeful than such a state of mind. When a man says 'I will see for myself what Jesus is,' . . . the result is fairly certain to be good." Exp. Gk. Test. Steps Leading to Roof and Upper Room of an Oriental House. 1. It was simply a wise prudence to go secretly to Jesus, so that he might understand who and what Jesus was before he committed himself publicly to his cause. He may" have lacked the fibre of which martyrs are made," but for him to throw himself away, all his power, usefulness, possibilities, before he knew for what he was doing it, savoured more of folly than of the true martyr spirit. He obeyed Jesus' call to his first disciples, Come and see. 2. He was more likely to find Jesus at home in the evening, than when Jesus was out among men busy "about his Father's business." 3. He had much that he wished to learn, and the quiet evening hour "far from the madding crowd" uninterrupted by other callers was the best for his purpose, and he could have as long a conversation as was necessary, and open his inmost heart to Jesus. Rabbi, Teacher, Master, a most respectful mode of address. We know that thou are a teacher come from God. Of so much he was assured, but he was not yet certain that Jesus was the expected Messiah. He wanted to know. Some things Jesus did and taught made him think that Jesus might be the Messiah; For no man can do these miracles (Am. R., "signs") except God be with him. The signs were such that only God could do them. The prophet could not do them of himself. They were worthy of God and his messenger. But there were many things Nicodemus needed to know, before he could be sure that Jesus fulfilled the Scripture portrait of the Messiah. Earnest inquiry after the Truth, is wise, is essential, is the way of salvation. Those 5. Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. wonderful Missionaries among students in Asia, John R. Mott, and Sherwood Eddy, after preaching to their great audiences, sift them down to those who are willing to study the four Gospels carefully, and to put into action whatever their consciences, enlightened by their study, bid them to do. II. JESUS POINTS OUT TO NICODEMUS THE ONE UNALTERABLE CONDITION OF ENTERING THE KINGDOM OF GOD, vs. 3-8. Jesus answered. Not to a spoken question, but to the condition he was in, to his needs, to the deeper questions of his soul. It may be, as Professor Dods remarks, that Nicodemus had Nicodemus comes to Jesus by Night. arrived at the point where 66 "if he had uttered all that I was in his mind he would have said: I believe you are sent to restore the Kingdom to Israel, and I am come to advise you on your plan of operation, and to urge upon you certain lines of action." Of course Nicodemus never dreamed but that he, a ruler of the Jews, was a part of the Kingdom. Jesus knew that, however good he was, he had not understood the full nature of the Kingdom Jesus came to bring to pass. Hence he answers: Verily, verily (in the original, the Hebrew words, "Amen, amen," " in Greek letters, "most assuredly," emphatically true) except a man (any one) be born again, or anew (as in Am. R.), or from above. Whosoever is born anew, or is born from above, is born again. So Nicodemus understood it (v. 4). 66 "" "Anew implies again." He cannot see the kingdom of God, know what it is, feel its motives, understand its nature. He does not even know that it exists. People may even now be so absorbed in business, and in the pleasures and cares of this world, that, with the kingdom of heaven coming all around them in this twentieth century, they do not see it. They are like the fishes in the poem: "Oh, where is the sea?" the fishes cried, As they swam the crystal clearness through. "We've heard from of old of the ocean's tide, And we long to look on the waters blue. The wise ones speak of the infinite sea; Oh, who can tell us if such there be?" "A finger's breadth at hand will mar "The 4. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? idea that a venerable Pharisee, and ruler of the Jews should not be admitted into the Messiah's kingdom without undergoing a change like that which was required of the heathen was one that he could not for a moment entertain." New Century Bible. 5. Jesus answered by emphasizing the statement he had made before. Verily, verily, with absolute, unchanging certainty. Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. The Lord here declares that there 6. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. are two elements or factors in the new birth; putting away the old life and receiving the new. Water was the natural and familiar symbol of cleansing from sin, of putting away the sinful past, of confession of sin. "Our Lord declares that an honest dying to the past is as needful as new life for the future. . . It is essential that our past be recognized as needing cleansing and forgiveness. The water is not an actual spiritual agency in the second birth; it is only a symbol, but unless one has that which water symbolizes, he cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven." Exp. Gk. Test. The renunciation of the past sins is essential to the renewal of the life by the Spirit. Water is the means of publicly confessing that we have renounced all past sins. And if we are ashamed and unwilling to do so, the new life of the Spirit has not begun. The same idea is found in Tit. 3: 3-5, where Paul describes the previous sinful state from which "His mercy saved us, through the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Spirit." See also Ezekiel 36: 25-27. The water is the symbol of that which cleanses from sin; the Spirit is the source of the new life. 6. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. We may see the meaning of this most clearly if we turn to Galatians 5: 1923. The change is from the Works of the Flesh to the Fruits of the Spirit. There is a life of supreme love to God and his commands, a spiritual realm, belonging to the higher nature, and whosoever enters into this realm is alive to God and righteousness and love; his chief controlling motives are love to God and love to man; his deepest choice is to serve and obey God; it is the beginning of a character which will grow into the heavenly life, the perfection of the human being. This life is imparted by the spirit of God, enabling one to choose God, and gain the victory over the lower nature. It is by this power, through this inspiration, under this influence that we are enabled to bear the fruits of the Spirit which are the virtues of the kingdom of heaven. Professor Thomson, in his Brain and Personality, shows that the will is the ranking official in man. The will is king in man. "It is the will which creates the man." It is through the decision and choice of the will that the decision is made as to which kingdom we shall belong. And the spirit of God works on this will. "Our wills are ours, we know not how, Our wills are ours to make them thine." Ye must be born again is not a hard command, a repulsive doctrine, but a blessed privilege, the privilege of a higher life, of heavenly experiences, of diviner living, of worthier being. It is not an obstacle, but a door; not a bar, but a gate; not a hindrance, but a stairway, even steps like those which Jacob saw in his dream rising up from earth to God and to heaven in its radiant glory with angels of help all along its golden stairway. The Ephebic Oath. Several years ago, the senior class of the college of the city of New York, having at commencement listened to the story of the young men of Athens who, at the age of 18, took the Ephebic oath of loyalty to Athens, themselves all took a similar oath of loyalty to the city and the state. (You can find the oath they took on p. 203 of Select Notes for 1912.) Every young man and woman should decide that as for themselves they will abjure the works of the flesh, and vow with all their soul loyalty to Jesus Christ and the fruits of the Spirit. We will never bring disgrace upon our Church or Country. |