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[he Sunday School
HYPOCRISY AND SINCERITY.
June 2, 1912. Mutt. 6:1-18.
Golden Text: "Take heed that ye do
not your alms before men, to be seen of
them; otherwise ye have no reward of
your Father which is in heaven."?Matt.
6:1.
HOME DAILY IIIBLE HEADINGS.
M.?Matt. 6:1-18.
T.?2 Cor. 9:6-16.
W.?ActB 5:1-11.
Th.?Zech. 7:4-12.
P.?Ps. 63.
S.?'Luke 11:1-13.
8.?Luke 18:1-8.
SHORTER CATECHISM.
Q. 107. What doth the conclusion of
the Lord's prayer teach us?
A. The conclusion of the Lord's
prayer, which iB, Tor thins is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory, forever,
Amen," teacheth us to take our
encouragement in prayer from God
only, and in our 'prayers to praise him,
ascribing kingdom, power, and glory
to him. And in testimony of ooir desire
and assurance to be heard, we say,
Amen.
LESSON COMMENTS.
Connection: A lesson on hypocrisy
and sincerity properly follows one on
truthfulness in speech. It is really a
carrying one further into the heart of
the matter: for the right use of the
tongue comes from the right state of
the heart.
The Source: We are still getting lessons
from Christ's Sermon, on the
Mount, this time from Matthew's Gospel
solely. The pretensions at which
Christ strikes were largely characteristic
of the high-church Jews, the Pharisees.
and Matthew, the writer of the
Jewish Gospel, grasped this phase of
the Lord's teaching very strongly.
Teaching and Practice: Up to this
point the Lord's Sermon has dealt
chiefly with the wrong teaching of the
Pharisees. Now it deals with their
wrong practice. In their expounding of
the law they had gone into literalism;
in their example and life they had
gone into formalism, which is hollow
pretence, with ostenstation for its great
feature.
A. Series of Contrasts: The form of
the Lord's teaching heic was that or
contrasts. He held up the three duties,
alms, prayer, and fasting, first, for a
negative view of them, as to what
should not be done: "Do not your alms
before men;" "when thou prayest, thou
shalt not be as the hypocrites are:"
"when ye Past be not as the hypocrites."
Then he gives a positive view, showing
what men should do in. an acceptable
discharge of these duties.
Hypocrite: As the Greeks used the
word it referred to one who p'ayed a
part on the stage, that is, one who for
a time, and to produce a certain effect,
pretended to be some other than himself.
The idea underlying the word,
therefore, is "pretending," being or apnea
ring to be different from what one
really Is. A missionary h?B related
how a native once derflned hypocrisy as
"putting a clean mat over a dirty floor."
? _-l 1- X I
?uaijnin una Arxnmem: The lesson
Introduces us to the second great head
of the Lord's discourse. The first
dealt with the sins of literalism. The
second deals with the sins of formalIsm.
Formalism manifests Itself by
three practical matters of alms-giving,
praver, and fasting. The divine Teacher
txeafB the matter In eeoh case first,
nevatlvely, and next positively. Incidentally
he Introduces practical remarks,
as MThey have their reward,"
THE PRESBYTERIj
"Thy Father shall reward thee openly,"
and gives, in characteristically positive
form, a model of proper prayer.
The Model Prayer: It has from time
immemorial been called "The Lord's
Prayer." It ought to be called "The
People's Prayer," and the title "Lord's
Prayer" should be applied to that which
literally Is his prayer, viz., the one recorded
in XVII, a specimen of Christ's
Intercessory prayer for his people. The
prayer here, however, whatever its
popular name, is a model, in the conception
which it gives to the one who
intelligently and properly uses it, of his
relation to God, to God's kingdom, to
God's will, to God's bounty, to God's
grace, to God's rule over us and in us
and deliverance of us, and to the ultimate
grotind of all of it, in the fact that
it is his kingdom, that it is to be by
his power, and that his shall be all the
glory. "After this manner," Christ
Bald1: that is, embodying in your prayers
these fundamental principles.
Lessons: Alms still to be given, but
there is a wrong way and a right way.
Ostentation in any Christian duty spoils
it in both God's and man's sight. Alms
given simply "to be seen of men" get
no approval from the Father. Self
praise or calling attention to one's own
religious acts is Itself proof that there
Is something hollow in them. Simplicity
in giving should be so complete
thta one will hardly know it himself that
he has done a kind act. Public prayers
for a show are as bad aa alms given to
be seen of men. God is the one addressed
in prayer, not man, and God
sees and hears the secret prayer as
easily as any other. God knows before
we ask it just what we read. The asking
is really of his prompting. Tfe
gives "the spirit of grace and supplication."
The form of prayer given ub is
the onlv thin? of that kind to be found
in the Bible. The use of it will not incline
anyone to ritualism. The spirit
of forgiveness on our part is essential
if we would have God forgive us. Such
dress and outward bearing as are common
and ordinary are good enough for
one In fasting. Other dress or conduct
will be regarded as "putting on."
Sack-cloth and ashes will not help.
They do not reach the heart. Lenten
practices are too often to be seen of
men and become utterly artificial and
formal, and nm tihprafnro hvnnrrlHoal
God will openly reward secret faithfulness.
Explanatory: "Take heed:" exercise
carefulness, give thought. "Your
alms:" your "righteousness," right doing,
a different Greek word from "alms"
in the next verse. "To be seen of
men:" to be gazed on, to be "theatred,"
or made a spectacle. "Father:" Christ
likes to use this word, expressing the
new relation between believers and
God. "Sound a trumphet:" a figure of
speech precisely like our modern "blowing
your own horn." "Synagogues:"
public meeting places for worship. Instruction,
and giving. "The streets:"
public places, thoroughfares, where witnesses
would throng. "Left hand,"
"right hand:" giving should be so unostentatious
that the sight of It or
knowledge of It cannot go even to the
nearest member of the body, so outetlv
that even if our hand had eyes or ears
it would not know what the other hand
was doing. "In secret:" to men, not to
God. '*Stand and pray:" standing was
always the posture in public prayer,
whether with the Publican who "stood"
afar off or with the Pharisee who stood
and poured out his self-praise. It is not
the posture that makes the prayer.
"Thy closet:" inner chamber, some retired
spot, where one may be alone with
God. "Vain repetitions:" babblings,
useless words, meaningless language,
often repeated. The heathen And it
hard to repeat often enough, and some
of them use prayer-wheel^. which they
twirl on the end of a short rod.
\ N OF THE SOUTH
Young People's Societies
FIDELITY.
Topic for Sunday, June 2: The Christian
Virtues. VI. Fidelity. Revelation
2:1-10.
RAIL REAR1NGS.
Monday: In business.' Proverbs 20:10.
Tuesday: In home-life. 1 Timothy
3:1-13.
Wednesday: In God's service. Numbers
12-1-3.
Thursday: In little things. Matthew
25:22-23.
Friday: As servants. Titus 2:9-15.
Saturday: The reward. James 1:12.
"Be thou faithful unto death and 1
will give thee a crown of life." The
fidelity will not purchase it but will
secure it.
(Robert E. Lee's saying, that "duty"
is the greatest word in the English language,
is almost too familar to be
quoted.
It was because he was a Christian and
had inbibed the teachings of the Bible
that L>ee both exemplified and taught
duty as he did.
No encomium that can be put upon
one is greater than that which is conveyed
in the words "he was faithful."
They imply more than any other language
can express.
To be faithful means intelligent apprehension
of obligation, due sense of
duty, loyalty to the higher authority,
self-sacrifice when needful, the courago
or one s convictions.
Faithfulness does not concern itself
with the grades and distinctions of life.
It is just as possible in lowliness of surroundings
and in humble spheres as in
the higher. In some respects it is finer
in low places thau in high.
Faithfulness Implies relationship to
others. It is concerned with that larger
class of duties in which one touches
other lives, or where one is in contact
with the Saviour. It therefore lifts one
out of self and into likeness to God. It
introduces the law of love.
Faithfulness does not always work
along pleasant lines. If it did, more
would seek it, perhaps. It goes against
the grain sometimes. Satan does not
wish us to be faithful. The world does
not; make it comfortable to be faithful.
The unregenerate heart and the remains
of the old life are against it.
The difficulty and unpleasantness of
fidelity to duty, however, make men the
stronger, it is in vigorous exercise
rather than in ease and comfort that
the most robust health is developed.
The Christian who has no struggle is
apt to have no victory. At least he
knows fewer of the joys of the faith.
Faithfulness respects God's word as
well as the obligations of the Christian
life. It is meaningless without knowledge*
of the way and loyalty to the doctrine.
The Bible tells of the way and
gives us that which we are to believe
concerning God. Any one who puts
contempt upon that Bible has lost the
meaning of the word faithful.
Faithfulness is a Stirling grace which
is to be had by all who will apply in
the right way. It is a gift of God. It
will be bestowed upon all who seek it.
"When I am weak, then am I strong."
"I can do all things through Christ
which strengthened me." The weakest
saint has the fountain of all strength
right at his hand and at his command.
Faithfulness is of value everywhere.
jue employer iuokh ror me employee
who has been true to the work when he <
wishes to All a higher place. The
general puts the more Important commission
in the hands of the man who
has shown fidelity in the subordinate
and less responsible sphere. The stud- <
ent who has been faithful in the lower
class lays the foundation for soiid Q<1vancement
in scholarship. A crown of
some kind always awaits a faithful
soul.
}
[May 22, 1912
The Prayer Meeting
1YISE CHOICE.
Joshua 24:15. Week of May 26.
We can well understand why the
Scriptures place such stress on right
choice. It determines and directs right
conduct It not only Initiates conduct
but determines its quality and course
to the end. The choioe of a vocation in
one'B life determines the permanent
employments of that life; bo the choice
of principles decides the standards of
permanent character. Minor but important
choices are to be made every
day and at every turn; there is however
one supreme choice that must determine
all others, at least as to motive
and also as to permanent effect.
It Is the choice of God as our guide and
his will as our law.
We have illustrious examples in the
lives of those who have been honored of
God in advancing his kingdom. When
the host of Israel seemed to be affected
with the enervating malady known as
indecision, Joshua made an appeal
summoning them to a positive choice.
The alternates were a clear cut decision
for Jehovah as their God and
Lord, or the worship of false Rods.
either the idols of their fathers or the
idols of the Amorites in whose land
they were now dwelling. Joshua proclaimed
to them that as for himself and
his household the matter was settled;
they would serve the Lord. This
brought the people to a prompt abandonment
of their apparent hesitancy and
they said, ,cWe also will serve Jehovah.
for he is our God."
Father Albraham affords another example
of a wise and heroic decision. He
was called to go out Into a place which
he should after receive for an inheritance.
He obeyed and resolutely went
out not knowing whither he went. He
lived in tents in a strange country, "for
he looked for a city which hath foundations
whose builder and maker Is God."
Another remarkable Instance is that
of Moses who might have been heir to
the throne of Egypt If only he had consented,
but he rejected worldly honors
and power "choosing rather to suffer
affliction with the people of God than
to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a
season. Esteeming the reproach of
Christ greater riches than the treasures
In Egypt."
A. wise choice was declared on the
occasion of the Lord's visit to the slsterB
and their brother who lived at
Bethany. Martha's mind was confused
with conflicting Interests, certainly not
unappreciative of her Master's presence,
but probably undecided as to what
was most important at the time, for she
was "anxious and troubled about many
things." But Mary had made a wise
choice. There is the rare opportunity
to hear her Lord's instruction In a
personal conversation in her home. She
used the opportunity and was commended
by the 'Saviour In the words
that have become so familiar to us,
"Mary hath chosen that good part which
shall not be taken from her."
Were the choices made by the great
and good of all ages .misguided? Were
the disciples who forsook all and followed
Jesus fanatics? Was t/he learned.
brilliant Safil of Tarsus, high in official
position, a mere enthusiast when
he chose to become Paul, the bond-slave
of the Lord Jesus Christ? The inspired
commendation of their devoted lives is
a sufficient answer. Our assurance of
the noble spirit which Impelled thecn,
the heroic service rendered by them ana
the Imperishable reward -of their
jbedlence answer the question triumphantly.
They were wise.
"Every ounce of efTort we put Into our
religion comee hack to us, sooner or
later, in power."