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LESSON XII.—SABBATH, MARCH 18, 1893

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Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Mar 6, 1893

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 19, No. 18.

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LESSON XII.—SABBATH, MARCH 18, 1893.

By Editor

THE SPIRIT IN THE NEW COVENANT.

[For any modification in these lessons, and for the notes, the editor is responsible. For other notes and suggestions the student is referred to the lesson pamphlet, and to the S. S. Worker.]

Lesson Scriptures and Suggestive Questions.

1. Jer. 31: 31-34: "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah; not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people; and they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord; for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin will I remember no more."
  1. What did the Lord promise to make?
  2. With whom?
  3. With what covenant is this compared?
  4. Where will he put his law?
  5. Where will he write it?
  6. What will he be?
  7. What will it be unnecessary to teach?
  8. Why unnecessary?
  9. What will he do concerning iniquity?
  10. Concerning sin?
II. Gal. 4: 22-31: "For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, one by the handmaid, and one by the free woman. Howbeit the son by the handmaid is born after the flesh; but the son by the free woman is born through promise. Which things contain an allegory; for these women are two covenants; one from Mount Sinai, bearing children unto bondage, which is Hagar. Now this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to the Jerusalem that now is; for she is in bondage with her children. But the Jerusalem that is above is free, which is our mother. For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not; for more are the children of the desolate than of her which hath the husband. Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise. But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now. Howbeit what saith the Scripture? Cast out the handmaid and her son; for the son of the handmaid shall not inherit with the son of the free woman. Wherefore, brethren, we are not children of a handmaid, but of the free woman."
  1. How many sons had Abraham?
  2. By whom?
  3. What is said of the birth of the former?
  4. Of the latter?
  5. In the allegory what are these women?
  6. Which covenant is Agar?
  7. What is characteristic of this covenant?
  8. To what does this Agar correspond?
  9. What is the condition of this Jerusalem and her children?
  10. Of Jerusalem above?
  11. Whose children are Christians?
  12. What prophecy is thus fulfilled?
  13. In what way are we like Isaac?
  14. How did the child of the flesh treat the child of the Spirit?
  15. How is it now?
  16. What saith the Scriptures?
  17. What reason is given for this command?
  18. What conclusion is drawn?

NOTES.

1. THE covenant mentioned by Jeremiah "had existed by the promise of God since the first intimation of redemption had been given. It had been accepted by faith; yet, when ratified by Christ, it is called a new covenant." "That the new covenant was valid in the days of Abraham is evident from the fact that it was then confirmed both by the promise and by the oath of God." Heb. 6:17, 18.
2. In the new covenant the law is written in the heart by the Spirit (2 Cor. 3:3), just as it was in Christ's heart (Ps. 40:8), the word of God being spirit and life (John 6:63), when in the heart keeps from sin (Ps. 119:11), and establishes the righteous in the way (Ps. 37:31). The law of God "is an expression of the will of God," "the transcript of the character of God." In Christ this character was illustrated. "He gave to man a new interpretationof God." He was the Word made flesh (John 1:14), and thus, when the law of God is in the heart, it is simply Christ in us the hope of glory (Col. 1:27).
3. ISAAC was a child of faith (Heb. 11:11), and so of promise (Rom. 9:9). It is only children of promise who are children of God (verse 8). Such are born of the Spirit, and through faith become partakers of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). These promises are the better promises (Heb. 8:6), even the promises of God. All who are now depending upon their own promises merely to obey God, have been born after the flesh only, and are in bondage (John 8:34). It is our privilege to be free (verse 32), and as sons to abide in the house ever (verse 35, Revised Version), and not to be cast out (Matt. 22:13).