Newspaper Page Text
8 (632)
The Sunday School
MANASSEII.
His Wickedness and Penitence- 2 Ckron.
:ms 1 -20. July Id, 1911.
This profligate king was a dreadful
case of apostasy from parental example.
Hezekiah, his father, was one of the best
kings Judah ever had. Manasseh was
the very worst. Possibly no king even
upon the dark roll of the northern kines
exceeded Manasseh in his desperate
wickedness. In the latter years of his
life indeed he became penitent, but he
stands out in history as a glaring example
of vice and detestable wickedness.
It sickens the heart to see a covenant
son wandering so far away from
God and selling himself so unreservedly
to work iniquity, and we earnestly inquire
into the reason fcr it. The records
are brief and we are bound to draw inferences.
God says "train up a child in the way
he should go, and when he is old he will
not depart from it." We should be slow
to allow any exception to this blessed
rule. ThiB blessed promise throws the
anm of protection around the child
from infancy to old age. If a parent
does train a child according to God's
word, God sees to it that that child will
not depart from it. Did Hezekiah and
the good Hephzibah train .Manasseh?
Hezekiah has a name which is like
ointment poured forth and it seems almost
sacriligeous to impute to him the
grave fault of parental unfaithfulness.
But Eli and Samuel were both good
men and they shine in sacred history
as bi'illiant stars, yet they were both
fatally negligent in parental duties.
Hezekiah was a good man and a great
and noble king, but in all probability
he was a poor father. All over our land
today we see good men, who are good
citizens, kind and amiable, but who are
absolutely untrue to parental duties.
The consequence is that untrained children
grow up to manhood and show the
awful fruit of such neglect. They become
robbers, grafters and boodlers.
They shock society and bring down
gray hairs in sorrow to the grave.
Presbyteries and Assemblies cry aloud
and utter their warnings in trumpet
tones, but the fathers and mothers turn
a deaf ear, till sons and daughters go
astray and parental hearts are crushed
and broken. It is very probable that
Hezekiah, busy In camp and court, neglected
his hoy and Manasseh came to
the throne with absolutely no fixed
principles to guide him. It is certain
that like all children, Manasseh came
into the world with a thousand germs of
evil in his heart and nothing good. He
was by nature a child of disobedience
and wrath, surrounded by wicked men
he is easily developed in wickedness.
His father's good example rapidly
passes from memory. The present absorbs
him. Through the wise policy of
Hezekiah Jerusalem was prosperous.
From all quarters the heathen traders
came. They brought their religion with
them as well as their goods and the
young king once started on the broad
road goeB rapidly downward.
this la no rancy sketch. It is realized
In thousands of cases today. It takes
trouble, time and prayer with unwearied
patience to train a child. It is so easy
to neglect it. But failure here is fatal.
The man who is negligent in this matter
is preparing for himself a cup full
of bitterness from which nothing can
save him but Almighty grace.
In bIx sad verses of this lesson we
have the record of Manasseh's wickedness.
He undid all that his father had
ever done; at least he tried to do it.
and Judah became like the one from
whom the unclean spirit was driven,
who afterwards returned and finding his
* _
THE PRESBYTER]
house swept and garnished, brought
back seven devils and the last state of
that man was worse than the first.
Manasseh built up the high places
again and planted idols in them. He established
idol worship all over the land.
He put images in the temple of Solomon.
He worshipped the sun, moon and stars.
He used all manner of enchantments
and sorceries to corrupt the people. He
sacrificed his children in the fire to
Moloch and shed innocent blood as had
never been done before in Jerusalem.
The old prophet Isaiah was probably
sawn asunder at his command and the
mournful record is that "Judah did
worse than the heathen that were cast
out before them."
But avenging Deities are shod
with wool and before God would destroy
Manasseh he sends him warning.
The prophets came and spoke, but instead
of hearing them he doubtless killed
them and then came the Assyrians.
Hezekiah successfully resisted Sennacherib
because God was with him, but
Manasseh was helpless for he had abandoned
God.
In verse 11, we see Manasseh "taken
among the thorns." He was probably
hidden in a thorn thicket in his garden,
but he is found and carried in fetters to
Babylon. Alone in his exile he has time
to think. His ungodly associates were
rar away. Many or them dead on the
battlefield. A jail house is a quiet place
for reflection, and so Manasseh in darkness
and misery without crown or sceptre
sits and thinks. He is like the prodigal
who has wasted all his goods and
like that prodigal he comes to himself.
He confesses his sins; he wails and
cries aloud; deep penitence fills his
soul. In the prayer accredited to him in
the Apocryphal book of Manasseh, he
says, "I have sinned above the number
of the sands of the sea. O L<ord forgive
me and destroy me not, for thou art the
God of them that repent." God heard
him and God answered him. With clemency
almost unknown the king of Assyria
sent him back to Jerusalem and restored
to him his crown and kingdom. In
the latter part of his reign, Manasseh
made a great effort to undo the mischief
he had done. He pulled down the Idols
and took away the images and cleaned
the temple and restored the worship of
God. He fortified Jerusalem and exhorted
the people to come back to the ancient
worship.
But there were some things that Manasseh
could never restore. He could
never gainer up me Diood he had shed
nnd bring back the human lives he had
sacrificed. He could never restore joy
m the hearts cf widows and orphans
whose loved ones he had killed. He
could never arest the power of his wicked
example and halt the avalanche ol
ruin he had started downwards. He
could never call back from the depths
of hell the souls he had ruined, nor
could he ever efface the deep black
scars he had made upon his own soul,
and he could never be a strong and
.forceful example of good to his fellow
men. He had wasted his chances
The opportunities of young manhood
were gone. His life was broken and
though healed he was like the bird with
the broken pinion. His power to soar
aloft was gone.
It is good to study Manasseh and see
how God in his sovereign grace may
pluck a man like a brand from the bumin?
T all nnnr a nrvoin f?? ? ?
D, mww ? |'ww4 u)/v/oiatc;o irtRlj t'OUrage
as they read of Manasseh. Jesus
Is a great Saviour and is able to save
to the uttermost all who come to God
by him?verily the story of Manasseh
is written as an example to the men of
all days.
Union Church, Miss. C. W. Grafton.
It has been the testimony of God's
veteran saints that not one word of his
promise has ever failed them.
.AN OF THE SOUTH
Young People's Societies
OUB DEBTS.
Topic for Sunday, July 16: Oui
Debts: What Are They? How to Fay
Them- Romans 13; 7-10
DAILY HEADINGS.
Bonday: Our debt to God. Matthew 6;
12.
Tuesday: Our debt to man. Romans
1:13-16.
Wednesday: Our debt of service. John
13:14.
Thursday: Our home debt. Ephesians
5:28.
Friday: Pay by love. Luke 10:25-30.
Saturday: Love's currency. 1 Corinthians
13:4-7.
"Owe no man anything." That is very
simple and direct, and commends it"self
to the common sense of every one.
But the apostle says it only to point
his later remark that there is one unpayable
debt upon which we must keep
working.
This unpayable debt is that of love;
"Owe no man anything, but to love one
another. For he that loveth another
hath fulfilled the law."
This is a debt that can never be liquidated.
As long as there is "another,"
that other is entitled to whatever we
can render him of Christian affection
and faithful service in Christ.
This debt cannot be offset by credits
coming from the other side. The clearing
house system cannot be used. We
owe it and should pay the obligation
whether the other side pays or not.
We have a debt to God- The prayer
"forgive us our debts, as we forgive
our debtors," refers to our offenses. The
nhl 1 en tinn ia ?r\fr onmotKinnr 4-rv k/t,
.B ouut^UUIlg IU UC 1 UII"
deied but a penalty to be borne, from
which we ask relief.
Our true debt to him is one of obedience,
submission, love, loyalty, service.
It is an obligation to familiarize ourselves
with his will and then to do that
will with the greater readiness and
cheerfulness.
We have a debt to man. Paul said, ''I
am debtor both to the Greeks and to the
Barbarians, both to the wise and the unwise."
Thus has he described the obligation
under which he rested to carry
the gospel news to all men.
This, too, is the unpayable debt of
love, always paying, never paid, always
an obligation yet never galling; gladly
assumed, gladly met; gladly increased;
1 a debt which the believer would not
wish to be lowered or cancelled.
; "And he answering said: Thou shalt
love tne ix>rd thy CJod with all thy heart
and with all they soul, and with all thy
' strength, and with all thy mind; and
i thy neighbor as thyself." That is, as
i long as God or our neighbor live the
debt will be unpaid.
We owe other debts to one another
akin to love, such as cheerfulness,
thoughtfulness, courtesy, helpfulness,
sympathy, relief. These are but manifestations
of love. Perhaps we might call
hem the currency of love, the medium
'->v means of which we make payment of
our debt.
There is no danger of bankruptcy In
connection with this Inventory of debts.
The obligation is heavy, it is true, and
it can never be compassed, but in seeking
to meet it there is a divine partner
for every soul who believes, and that
partner helps to bear the load and make
it one which we do not wish to shake off.
Make thy life better than thy works,
that will add merit to thy work, momentum
to Its Influence and benediction.
The character of the toller has much to
do with the work. "Whatsoever thy
hand flndeth to do, do It with thy
might"
[ July 5, 1911
1 Prayer Meeting
THE LOKI) OUR HELPER.
Heb. 13: 5-6.
Week Reg-Inning July 9.
Here is a promise that should be
cherished by every individual and by
the whole body of believers. It was
made originally to Joshua, the great
commander, but is here applied by the
Spirit of inspiration to all believers in
every age and for all time. Here is
also an expression of faith and courage,
probably suggested by the opening
words of the twenty-seventh Psalm,
which we should all adopt as an approximately
complete epitome of our
practical theology. "The Lord is my light
and my salvation; whom shall I fear?
The Ix>rd is the strength of my life."
The individual may be overwhelmed
with a Rpnsp nf fnUuro ^mh ?"
be in sackcloth and ashes from a sense
of worldliness and unbelief, but "if we
believe not,, yet he abideth faithful;
he cannot deny himself." The design
of the context is to show the all-sufflciency
of Christ and the availability of
his measureless grace for us, and to
stimulate our reliance upon him who is
"the same yesterday, to'day and forever."
Changeless facts and principles are
a need of the hour. Transition is characteristic
of our time. Systems of
thought?physical, social, economic,
civil and even moral sciences, as popularly
accepted, are in a volatile state.
Men need something immovable on
which to build their hopes, a strong defence
for their security, a high tower
into which they may flee and be safe.
Reason a?J a aillHo fnr mil- fonf <? "
flickering, smoky torch that will fail
in the crisis of life. Revelation is a
steady, radiant beacon streaming its
beams of promise and gladness far
above the imadness and beyond the
treachery of life's sea. It makes known
a Helper whose purposes are as immutable
as his Being, who is without beginning
of days or end of life, whose
very name signifies his eternity.
Power is an essential attributes
of Deity. A1 power is given him in
heaven and in earth. He built the
structure of the material universe,
and is head over all things to his redeemed
kingdom. "The king's heart
is in his hand as the rlveirs of
waters; he turneth it whithersoever
he will." And hiB people shall be willing
in the day of his power. He will
do all his pleasure and ordereth all
things after the counsel of his own
will.
The IjOrd id nnoltflod *~ 1?
iu uc uur neiper
because of his tender mercies toward
us and compassion for our infirmities.
He is very pitiful and of tender mercy.
How often it is said of his earthly
ministry that he was moved with compassion,
and of Jehovah that he is full
of compassion. We are never more
safe than when in conscious infirmity,
unworthinesB and helplessness we appeal
to the compassion of our Redeemer.
Jesus is suited to be our helper because
of the merits of the offering of
himself for us. He has purchased us
with his precious blood. "This man,
after he had offerpH r??Q *?
wuv oaoiiUUC 1VJI
sins forever, sat down on the right
hand of God," indicating his triumph
over Bin. He "put away sin by the
sacrifice of himself." In this the apostles
gloried. It gave them confidence
and boldness. By one offering he hath
perfected forever them that are sanctified.
He thus becomes "a merciful
and faithful High Priest in things pertaining
to God." "If when we were
enemies we were reconciled to God by
the death of his Son, much more being
reconciled we shall be saved by his
life."