THE SABBATH SCHOOL

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Dec 12, 1900

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 26, No. 50.

THE SABBATH SCHOOL

LESSON XII.—SABBATH, DECEMBER 22, 1900.

“THE SON ABIDETH EVER.”

Lesson Scripture, Gal. 4:25-31; 5:1, R.V. 25 “This Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to the Jerusalem that now is, for she is in bondage with her 26 children. But the Jerusalem that is above is free, which is 27 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. 28 “Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise. 29 But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him 30 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 31 son of the freewoman. Wherefore, brethren, we are not 1 children of a handmaid, but of the freewoman. With freedom did Christ set us free; stand fast therefore, and be not entangled again in a yoke of bondage.”

NOTE.—The word “handmaid,” which is used in the revision, is manifestly in contrast with “freewoman”—so that it is the same as “bondmaid” and “bondwoman” in the common text. The Greek word from which it is translated is defined as “a young female slave.”

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS. (1) What does the history of Abraham, Sarah, Hagar, and their children contain? (2) What do the two women stand for? (3) Whence does the one covenant come? (4) To what does it bring forth? (5) Who represents this? (6) To what does it answer? (7) In what condition is the old Jerusalem? (8) What of Jerusalem which is above? (9) What relation does it sustain to true Christians? (10) What is written concerning it? (11) Where is it written? (12) How was Isaac born? (13) What are the “brethren” in Christ? (14) How do the children of the flesh regard the children of the Spirit? (15) Nevertheless, what saith the Scripture? (16) What is to be done to the bondwoman and her son? (17) How sure is this? (18) Why is it to be done? (19) Whose children are those who know God? (20) Since the bondwoman brings forth children to bondage, what must be the condition of the children of the freewoman? (21) What exhortation is therefore given us? (22) In what are we to stand fast? (23) Who has given us this freedom? (24) What are we to guard against?

NOTES. 1. Do NOT forget that Hagar was a slave, and as such could bear children only to bondage. Ishmael was not the heir of Abraham until Isaac was born, becoming a slave afterwards; he was always only a bond-servant. His mother could never bear any other than bond-servants, even tho Abraham himself were their father. Even so the covenant from Sinai which is Hagar and the old Jerusalem, could never bring forth free sons of God. There was never a time when the covenant of Sinai could do more than work condemnation and wrath. From its first moment it was an instrument of death, and all who held to it were in bondage—the slaves of death.

2. VERSE 27 is a quotation from Isa. 54:1. From it we have a key to much of the prophecy of the Old Testament, for we see that all the prophecies concerning the glorious restoration of Jerusalem, and the gathering of her scattered children, refer to the New Jerusalem which cometh down from God out of heaven. Rev. 3:12. Jerusalem is now desolate; none of her children are within her walls, for Christ has not yet come to take them there. Soon the Seed will come to whom the promise was made, and then it will be seen that Jerusalem has a host of children, for they will then come to their inheritance. Then the place which old Jerusalem occupies will be found altogether too small, and a much larger place will have to be prepared. Isa. 49:18-22. From among the Gentiles will her children be gathered. See also Acts 15:14-17.

3. ISAAC was the child of faith, the child of promise, born of the Spirit. If we truly believe, then we are born again, “born from above” (John 3:3, margin), and, like Isaac, are the children of promise, having the New Jerusalem for our mother. We may expect tribulation and persecution from the flesh, even from our own flesh; but that is only for our encouragement. “If ye were of the world, the world would love his own; but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.” John 15:19.

4. “BRETHREN, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.” No matter tho we have been bound hitherto, we are sons of the freewoman, because the proclamation of freedom has gone forth to all. The bonds are loosed, but we may not have known it. All we have to do is to arise, shake ourselves from the dust of the dungeon, and loose ourselves from the bands of our neck. Isa. 52:1, 2. Do not stay in slavery after the emancipation has been proclaimed. Liberty has been proclaimed to all the inhabitants of the land, to the sinners of the Jews as well as to the sinners of the Gentiles; to professed Christians, who find a yoke of bondage still on their necks, as well as to the reckless transgressor.

5. WITH freedom Christ did set us free, even with His own freedom. “The glorious liberty of the children of God” is a present reality. The inanimate creation yet groans under the bondage of corruption, and must until the time of restoration, at the coming of the Lord, but it will at that time only be delivered to share the glorious freedom which the sons of God now enjoy. If we are truly sons of God now—and we are if we truly believe—we are joint heirs with Christ, and as free as He is; that is, as free from sin and from all the power of the enemy. This being the case, why should we ever allow ourselves to be entangled in the yoke of bondage?

6. HERE is a serious personal matter for the consideration of each one. Christ said, “If ye continue in My word, then are ye My disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:31, 32. He is the truth. John 14:6. “If the Son, therefore, shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” John 8:36. Are you free indeed? Do you know your freedom? Are you free from all bad habits and from every form of slavery? Are you master of the world, the flesh, and the devil? Does the devil flee from you at your command? Have you victory over the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life? If not, you do not yet know the truth, for the truth makes free, and the freedom is nothing less than that here spoken of. This and nothing less is the freedom that Christ, the Son, the Truth, gives us. Do not complacently rest in the correctness of the doctrine you hold. No one may be able to pick a flaw in it; yet if you have not this freedom, you do not know the truth, much less can you teach it to others. To be thus free is not a hard requirement, but a glorious gift offered freely to all. Take it, and stand fast in it.