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The Sunday School
(M 'roiiKit i, 1011.
V/VktKL X W\Ti II* t*.
Kzoklrl, ('ha|itcr !t.
The l'ro|?h?f and Ills Work.
Tlio Duly of a Watchman.
( oil's Wamlnir and Ills I.otc.
Tho Prophot E/.okiol lived and worked
In a frylnK time In the history of Jof
f?
in- mm, m ni>: ?K*r ui ininy, carried
away In *h#r captivity of =>97. He
went to live on the River f hebar and
his house seems to have been the ?a?hcrlni?
place of many of the exiles. If.
was Kzeklel's work to warn those re.
mainln? In Jiidah of the daneer that
confronted them, and to explain the
captivity of the exiles. There was
mneh rjuestlonlne of the 1ust|ce of Jehovah.
"The fathers have eaten sonr
ffrapes and the children's teeth are set
r?n edee," sa^d the exiles. Part of
Fzeklel's work was to explain that It
was their own slnnlne that, had broneM
disaster. One of the ereat. messages cf
Fzeklel. verv valuable In our ttmd 1?
the settlne forth of the truth "that the
soul that, slnneth. IT shall die." The
prophet bv manv devices and with
"trone words seeks to vet the people
to remain true to .Tebovah and to keen
f'om sin. Tie pleads with them. he
threatens them. Tie sets forth t>io char,
aeter ef Ood hv many Interesting and
neinrm svmholR.
After the final captlvltv Kzekiel benf
Mk energies toward nrenarlne a rpmnant
fo return to the land. In this work
he seems to have had more success than
In bis earlier work. The remnant that
returned wan composed of people w^o
had strong courage and a great faith In
Jehovah.
The T>nty of a Watchman?The particular
leaaon we have for our present
consideration dealH with the prophet's
call to his work. He Is given a statement
from Jehovah as to the nature of
the work he Is to do. He Is to he like
a watchman. The duty of a watchman
Is to he on the lookout for danger.
Knowing of the danger, he has put
one thing before him, that Is, to give
plain unequivocal warning. This
Is all that he can do. So far as those
In danger are concerned, he can do
nothing more, they must meet the situation.
Having given the warning ,
carefully and faithfully, he Is not rcsponhlle
any further. If It be not heeded,
ho Is not at fault. His duty end3
with the giving of the warning. Along
with the mere warning he is often called
upon to show the way of escape.
It Ib worth our time to consider whether
those of us to whom God has given
the duty of watching and warning are
doing the work an Tie would have It
done. Are we not oftentimes more
concerned with the explanation of the
warning than the warning Itself? Is
It our business to explain? Is not the
Atonement of more value to the world
than any man's theory of Atonement?
Is It not more to the purpose of God
to wnrn men of sin than to argue as to
the nature of sin and whether there Is
such a thing as eternal punishment?
Suppose thnt a fire Is discovered by a
watchman In a building In which many
people are sleeping. He goes to the
first, occupant and awaking him asks
It he belloves In Are and whether he
thinks If one were to start In that building
It would danger the lives of the or.
cupantB. What would be happened
while all this were going on? The
lives of all tho other occupants and the
one with whom the watchman Is talking
would be greatly endangered and
many of them might ho lost. The right
sort of watchman would simply go
through the building as rapidly as possible
and quickly arousing each occufMhki
> -jL' ii'in im>
THE PRE8BYTERI
nam would tell them quickly of the
fro and the danger and show them the
way to the fire escape. Are we not
spending so much time explaining the
gospel and arguing about it that many
souls are perishing without having
known of the danger and that there was
a way of escape?
BisTs Warning* and His Lore.?It
seems hard for men to realize that
God's warning are evidences of His
love. His commands are placed along
the way of life to set forth the danger
points. Men sometimes quarrel with
the Ten Commandments for being nega.
tive. Would they quarrel with the man
who placed a red light at a danger point
in the road? It is most assuredly negative.
It says you must not pass this
way. God says "thou shalt not steal"
for instance. Does He do it that He may
make it hard for man to acquire property?
Not in the least. He is simply
warning man that there danger points
In the acquiring process and puts man
on guard. There is a very interesting
passage in Ecrlosiastes. Chapter 10.
vs. 8. "Whoso breaketh an hedge, a
serpent shall bite him." God's law has
been placed about us as an hedge. Within
is safety and all that is worth while:
outside are the serpents.
When we transgress (cross over) then
it is that we get into difficulty. It will
make God's law more value to us and
we will give it a larger place in our
lives and we will find more satisfaction
is keeping It. if we get the view of it
that Is set forth above. It is especial,
ly important that teachers give this
view of law to their pupils of the younger
classes. There is much disregard of
law in our time and it is due, of course,
to a wrong conception of law.
God has shown His great love in giving
us so many warnings, in putting
the danger signs at every uncertain and
insecure place along the pathway of
life.
net us who are called upon to do the
warning not dispair when our warnings
go unheeded. If you are inclined to do
so turn hack to this passage in Ezekiel
and read and ponder it carefully.
New Orleans. Geo. D. Booth.
Blessed are they who have not fully
understood and yet have lent themselves
to God's purposes. What we are In ourselves
clearly overbalances every detail
of our station and belongings.?S. D.
Gordon, in his "Crowding Out Christ."
Dr. William Osier, in his Harvard lecture
on Science and Immortality, has
packed it full of the Bible. Its fortythree
small pages contain forty-one Biblical
allusions and quotations, and on
one page seven Scriptural expressions
are made use of in close succession.?
President Walter W. "Moore, in his new
volume, "The Indispensable Book."
Warmth, moisture, oxygen, and some
organic matter to live upon are the
nlmnla mnitltinna rnniilrwl fnr tbo or
tivities of bacteria. So, give what is
wrong a place in your pulsating bosom,
give it what it needs to live and multiply
upon, and conditions to make the
whole moral body sick and its heart
sore with folly and sin, are present and
sure of activity.?T. Mitchell Prudden,
M. D? in his "Story of the Bacteria."
A mere Plato, theorizing about life?
a Seneca, full of moral apothegms.
Jesus never was nor could be. He has
wrought a revolution in the moral and
intellectual life of mankind. O patient
Jesus, touching us with thy strong,
strange, quiet, loving strokes, calming
/V... li AH M-4 r* ?in
uui nrai IB, iiri viii^ tiuu 511UIHK un tui
duty, no time or distance separates from
thee. We see thee, hear thee, feel thee
still.?Charles McTyeire Bishop, D. D ,
in his "Jesus, the Worker."
/
AN OF THE SOUTH
Young People's Societies
GREAT LIVES- PETER.
Topic for Sunday, October 1: I.e??ons
From Great Lite*. X. Peter.
John 21:1-19.
Ilailj Readinir*.
Monday: The great call. Matthew
4: 19-20.
Tuesday: The Soul-Winner. John
1: 41. 42.
Wednesday: His Great Confession,
Matthew 16: 13-19.
Thni-ftftov T-v.- m.if
WW/ * Hio u i a i. Iiuuu IO. I4?18.
25. 27.
Friday: Peter the Brave, Acts 2:14,
21; 4, 19.
Saturday: Peter the Leader, Acts
11:1-18.
So much more is made of Peter by
the Romanists than ought to be made,
that there is an inclination amongst us
to depreciate him.
This tendency is increased by the
fact that as we recall the story of his
life we find in it so much that is unhappily
to the discredit of the man.
Peter's impulsiveness, his volatile nature,
his quick temper, his own zeal at
one (time and under zeal at another,
and above all his conduct the night of
Christ's betrayal, prejudices us against
him.
But let it not be forgotten that he
was one of the two men first made disciples,
that he was admitted to closer
intimacy with Christ than any other
disciple except John and James, and
not leas than they, and that Christ for.
gave the gross sin of the denial.
The attitude of Christ to this disciple
was peculiarly and beautifully set forth
in the direction to Mary, near the sepulcher.
"Go and tell Peter,"
It was as if the Master knew how
grieved and helpless the man was, and
desired to reassure him by a special
message that would tell him that he
could come basck.
Peter proved the genuineness of his
repentance by the devotion and activity
of his subsequent life. He preached,
worked and suffered for Ch'rlst as did
no other of the original twelve, so far
as the record shows. From Pentecost
to his own crucifixion, his zeal never
abated.
His peculiar disposition seems to have
remained with him. Paul tells of how he
felt compelled to rebuke hiim openly
for certain inconsistencies in doctrinal
and ecclesiastical administration, and
hA RAP.mfl to hflvo onmftw>iQf
~ uwiugtiuftt VUliaiVCU
at the forming of parties in the church.
Yet, in the midst of it all, the splendid
man took properly the sharp criticism,
and tenderly alluded to the apostle to
the Gentiles as his "beloved brother
Paul." Fortunately for both these forceful
men, their work lay most of the
time, in different directions. Paul going
west and Peter east, and never to
Rome.
That Peter was not to understand the
Words of Christ, "Thou art Peter, and on
this rock I will build my Church,"
meant primacy to him, is clearly shown
by the incident which follows, when
Christ said to him, "Get thee behind me
Satan." Nor is there the slightest evidence
that the other apostles regarded
him as having received any power or
dignity whatever above what was given
them.
The words of Christ referred to the
rrnAni a
Bicoi. wuioii reier naa confessed.
The Divinity of the Son of
Man, the great fact that made his medlatorshlp
satisfactory to Ood and possibility
to man. The word "this rock"
did not refer to Peter. All tho later
career of the man showed that It was
not to himself but to the principle that
Christ referred.
[ September 20, 1911
The Prayer Meeting
THE LOUP'S EXALTATION,
Phil. 2:9-11.
WEEK BECII5NIN0 SEPT. 21.
The words preceding those selected
for our study describe our lord's huml
H^tfnn Ho hiimhlml blmu/.l#
became obedient unto death. The literal
statement is, "Who existing In the form
of God, counted not the being on equalIty
with God a thing to tie grasped, but
emptied himself, taking the form of a
servant," being made In the likeness
of men; and being found In fashion as
a man. he humbled himself, becoming
obedient unto death, yea. the death of
the cross."
Then we are told of the fruits and rewards
of Ills humiliation, In the words
of the texts before lis. We cannot
assume to expound the great principle
uf justice and reward which ar-i Involved
In this numerable statement.
We must bo co.iit.?t to accept anil rejoice
in the fact Hat because He
bled Himself "God ) iphly exalted TIlui
and gave i nto lum the name which is
above every name," which every
tongue must confess and to which every
knee must bow.
It is very clear in temporal life that
"he that humbleth himself shall be ex
alted." The men of eminent attainment
in human affairs have been those who
have first filled lowly positions. Great
scholars have first possessed and ex.
ercised docile spirits that they might
learn first principles. The same is
true of distinguished statesmen, re
frtrmora r\ * 1 ?
.v.niiD, uiavuicicio, ainoiB, leKisimors,
authors. Especially is it true of
those who are known as philanthropists.
Endowments of benevolent institution?
and foundations have been given hy
those who in life have felt the
needs of help and by lowly effort havo
surmounted obstacles and achieved sue- cess.
Instances are numerous. The great
missionaries to whom the natlonB of
the earth are most indebted for modern
enlightenment were men of humble birth
and obscure youth; or else they were
men who endured privation or self-suppression
for the accomplishment of their
heroic tasks.
How signally is the great truth of
the text being wrought into reality
in the life of the race and the expansion
of God's Kingdom in the earth. Over
Christendom "the name" is supreme and
its influence is extending farther and
farther through pagan lands. Never before
has that name been so widely
welcomed and its benediction so eagerly
Duugui. uy uiuse wno nad never berore
heard the joyful sound. Fresh tidings
from the Asiatic and African continents,
and from Papal Europe and America,
to which the Gospel is now having access,
tell of the conquests, the ex.
pandlng power and glory of "the name
that Is above every name."
By the Grace of God those religions
which do not magnify our Lord's name
are branded with the mark of his disapproval.
Some of them like Romanism
and Mohammedanism are widely
extended, but they are marked for final
overthrow except on condition that they
shall radically reform. The marks
which condemn them are moral and social
degredation, national weakness and
decay, suppression of revealed truth
ind obstruction of modern enlightenment
The exaltation of Christ by humanity
is not complete. It is notentlallv hr
cured and It 'will be perfected finally,
but even the adoration of His redeemed
people in the earth ds as yet imperfect.
The time is coming when every knee
shall how and every tongue confess
that He is Lord to the Glory of God the