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Tt M \ h M ~
me Sunday school
A TROUBLED SEA AND A TROUBLED
SOUL.
August 11* 1912. Mark 4:35-5:20.
Goldeu Text: "God is our refuge and
strength, a very present help in trouble.
Therefore will not we fear, though the
earth be removed, and though the mountains
be carried into the midst of the
sea."?Ps. 46:1, 2. t
HOME DAILY BIBLE READINGS.
M.?Mark 4:35-41.
T.?Mark 5:1-20.
W.?IPs. 124.
Th.?Psalm 3.
F.?Psalm 4.
S.?Psalm 23.
S.?Isa. 41:8-16.
TOPICAL OUTLINE.
Jesus Exercises His Divine PovVer?
In controlling the winds and the
waves, vs. 35-41.
In saving a demon-possessed soul,
vs. 1-20.
SHORTER CATECHISM.
Q. 10. How did God create man?
A. God created man, male and female,
after His own image, in knowledge,
righteousness, and holiness, with do
minion over the creatures.
LESSOX COMMENTS.
Time and Places After giving the
Parables by the Sea, and those uttered
in the house at Capernaum, our Lord
and the Twelve, as the evening drew
on. entered, at his bidding, into a small
fishers' boat, to pass over to the other
side of the Sea of Galilee. The country
of the Gadarenes, or Gergasenes, or
Gerasenes, as they were variously called,
lay on the eastern side. Capernaum
on the northwestern side.
Tlie Sea of Galilee: It was a little
body of water, really an expansion of
uie tuver Jordan. about thirteen miles
long and six and a half miles wide at Its
widest point, pear-shaped, with its
larger land toward the north, the waters
fresh and abounding in fish, its
surface nearly seven hundred feet below
the Mediterranean level, and its
shores, especially on the west and
north, studied with little cities of
which Tiberias and Capernaum were
the largest.
A Proper Linking: A troubled sea
and a troubled soul are well linked together
in the study here, just as they
are in the narrative. The hand that
could hold the stormy wind, and a voice
that could still the tossing sea, had
power to deliver the mind and soul of
man from Satan's thrall and to consign
demons "to their own place." After that
night of peril and deliverance, it is not
likely that the Twelve wondered at his
next great act, in speaking peace to the
troubled souls.
Sea Storms; Soul Storms: They are
not unlike In many respects. They are
often encountered. They are frequently
sudden, unexpected in their appearance.
They are very violent. They bring
great danger. They awaken, in the unthinking,
some doubt. But they are all
subject to the divine power. He ruleth
the raging of the sea. He allays the
storms that sweep over the soul. The
majestic voice that cries, "Peace, be
still." to the one speaks with equal authority
and power to the other.
Mark's Gospel: The double story is
drawn from Mark's Gospel. That Gospel
was written fromtheTtoman standpoint.
It emphasizes the power of
Christ. Tn its shorter compass it tells
of more miracles, and these in more
detail, than any of the others. 'It pictures
THE PRES8TTERU
them more vividly, uses more vigorous
words, and in other ways brings out the
fact that Christ wrought many wonder
ful works. The very style of the book,
singularly like that of Caesar's Gallic
War, much of Its vocabulary, frequently
marked by Latin words spelled In GTeek
letters, and some claim its very idiom
carry the careful student of this Gospel
into the very heart of the Roman type
of thought.
The Divergences: The story is givefi
by the three Synoptic writers, but at
greater length and with more vividness
and picturesqueness by Mark than by
the others. In the account of the casting
out of the devils Matthew tells of
two who were possessed and relieved.
while Mark and Luke describe only one.
Evidently Mark, desiring to set forth the
power of Christ, fixed his attention and
description upon the one who was most
fierce and uncontrollable, whom he describes
at length, giving proofs of the
frightful state and unearthly power of
the man. This singling out, 1n both
Mark and Luke, is in such terms as do
not contradict the statement of Matthew
that there were two men in the incident.
There is not a word to indicate that
the two accounts disagree. By Mark
and Luke the milder case is simply
nmlHa^ oo - " '
id, an uunuajj tea IU IUB Special
purpose for which they wrote.
Christ Sleeping: "But he was asleep."
He was possessed of a true human nature
and frame. He could be wearied,
hungry, faint. He felt the burden of
work, and was exhausted by Its long
continuance and strenuousness. This
same nature fitted him to be the friend
of those he came to save. By it he was
enabled to enter into all their sorrows
and cares, to rejoice with those that rejoice
and to weep with those that weep,
to be tempted in all points like them. By
it he furnished the basis, in the law, for
his substitution of himself for the believer.
He was born of woman, made
under the law. That sleep In the boat
showed all this with a vividness that
is incomparable.
finlilee's Storms: Travelers and residents
in Palestine tell us of the frequency,
suddenness, and violence of the
storms which sweep over that little inland
lake. The depth of It below the
oca icvci, neariy seven nunarea ieet, tne
great heat which this degression often
develops, the height of the mountains on
nearly all sides of It, the gorges in those
mountains which become like huge funnels
through which the wind, moved by
the contact of the superheated air below
and the cooler currents above, attains
tremendous power and movement
as it Is forced down upon the bosom of
the usually placid little body of water,
all combine as conditions to lash the
surface ir.to fury. The little fisher boats
are too small for occasions like these,
and those who are in. them and out any
little way from the shore are in great
danger.
Demonical Possessions: There have
evidently been times when, for his own
wise purpose, God has given loose Tein
io oaian. ine reaBon or explanation we
may not always give. Certain H is,
however, that the adversary Is thus allowed
to show his power to try God's
people and to make them call for the <
manifestation of the divine power to
control him and save them. But equal- (
ly certain Is it that God has always as
serted and shown his mastery in the end ,
and never allowed Satan to go beyond |
the point of safety for the chosen peo- \
pie. Instances are those of Jannes and \
Jambres In Moses' day, of Satan in Job's
trial. nerhaDS of the anDearanco of
Samuel at the Witch of Endor'a bidding,
the appearing of Satan to Christ
in the wilderness temptation, the demoniacal
possessions of the age in which
(Ccntinued on Page 21.) i
l N OF THE SOUTH
VAIIIUT Daa?iIa^a
wing reupie i ouiiCUCi
BEAUTIFUL OUTDOORS.
Topic for Sunday, August 11: God's
IlWiutiful Outdoors. What it Teaches
Me. Psalm 65:1-13.
DAILY READINGS.
Monday: The xrees. Psalm 1:1-13.
* Tuesday: The sea. Psalm 104:6-13.
Wednesday: The highway. Isaiah
11:12-16.
Thursday: The desert. Exodus 3:1-4.
Friday: The city. Hebrews 11:10-16.
Saturday: The flowers. Song of Solomon
4:12-16.
The mountains and sea-shore and
IfllfOcMAe ota ?AW " ?1 * * *
|M..viuvo uic nun owttrui'lUK WllQ people
from the cities and towns. Are there
not lessons to be learned from the
scenery upon which the visitors look?
God has clothed the world with beauty
and sublimity. He might have made It
just as usual without the attractions
with which he invested it. But this
would not have been like God or according
to his gracious ways.
With the aesthetic taste which he itn
planted In humanity, he has given objects
to gratify and cultivate that taste.
He did not stop with mere utility. He
united the beautiful with the true and
the good.
The abundance of the beauty about us
is the chief cause of Its neglect. Were
it rarer we might prize it more. Its
abundance ought to arouse gratitude
and appreciation in us, and it will, if
our hearts be rigjit towards God.
The Scriptures point us to much that
is beautiful out of doors. There are
the trees. The beauty of the Christian
life cannot be better described than
thus: "He shall be like a tree planted
by the rivers of water; that bringeth
forth his fruit in his season; his leaf
also shall not wither."
They tell of the sea. "Who laid the
foundations of the earth, that it should
not be removed forever. Thou coverest
It with the deep as with a garment; the
waters stood above the mountains. At
thy rebuke they fled; at the voice of thy
thunder they hasted away. The earth
is full of thy riches. So is the great
and wide sea."
They tell of the springs and rivers
and rills. "He sendeth the springs into
the valleys, which run among the hills.
They give drink to every beast of the
field; the wild asses quench their thirst.
By them shall the fowls of heaven have
their habitation, which sing among the
branches. He watereth the hills from
his chambers."
Could anything be finer than the
Bible description of spring-time and
the flowers? "For, lo, the winter is
past, the rain is over and gone; the
flowers appear on the earth; the time of
the singing of birds is come, and the
voice of the turtle dove is heard in our
land; the fLg-tree putteth forth her
green figs, and the vines with the tender
grape give a good smell."
And how beautiful the picture of
fields and harvests! "Thou prep&rest
them corn, when thou hast so provided
for It. Thou waterest the ridges thereof
abundantly; thou settlest the furrows
thereof; thou makest It soft with showers;
thou blessest the springing thereof.
Thou crownest the year wKh goodness,
and thy paths drop fatness. The pasLures
are clothed with flocka; the valleys
also are covered over with corn;
they shout for Joy, they also sing."
Good words will do more than hard
speeches; as the sunbeams, without any
noise, made the traveler cast off his
cloak, which all the blustering of the
wind could not do, but made him bind it
tighter.
[July 31, 1912 I
The Prayer Meeting
THE CAUSE OF CONDEMNATION.
John 3:19. Week of August 4.
The ungodly are condemned already.
They are eulltv and their own
condemn them. Every normal and responsible
mind 1b conscious of Imperfection
and of frequent violation of known
duty. "The Imagination of man's heart
Is evil from his youth." In thought,
word and deed sinners trangress. The
known law condemns, "that every mouth
may be stopped and all the world may
become guilty before God." We are
born in sin and by nature are children
of wrath.
But a great and ample provision has
been made by which every soul that
hears the gospel may be restored to
God's favor, "renewed In knowledge
after the image of him that created
him," being justified from all things
from which ye could not -be justified by
the law of Moses." The provision for
salvation to all is complete, finished and
its benefits are freely ofTered; that is
they are offered as a gift and to any who
are willing to receive them. "To as
many as received him. to them gave he
power to become the sons of God, even
to as many as believed on his name
T*V* ? ? f i -OV, ir, rUJia ?
I uu aivucuicu L LTI. VUllOb 10 UVU O [> 1 Uvision
for having the guilty pardoned
and restored to fellowship with himself,
and through that atonement life everlasting
is provided and offered.
This text announces the great sin for
which those who hear the gospel and
reject it will be finally condemned.
Light is come Into the world, the light
of Chnst's life and teaching, the light of
his wisdom and service, the light of his
love and self-abasement, the light of his
patience and pleading, the light of his
sympathy and tears, the light of his
power and personal glory, the light of
his intercession and sacrifice on the
cross, the light of his triumph over
death and his ascension to his throne
of sovereignty?such light has come
into the world. Many welcome it and
rejoice in it. This light is the source
of all gladness on earth and its refining
Influence Is the character-builder of the
ages. It gives to governments their
permanence and security, to society
whatever of refinement it possesses, to
individual character its poise and
etrength, to public intelligence its
treasures of knowledge and its expanding
opportunities. More than this,
it gives to conscience whatever of
mastery it has over conduct and to
public morals a standard for living and
to the individual heart an appreciation
of that which is excellent
Moreover the mediation of Christ gives
to the immortal soul a rational, well
? i?i 1-k,* fnfiire.
gi uuimcu uujic iv/i uuv cbviuMi 4?-?
the assurance of complete triumph over
aln and suffering, fellowship with it?
Father and Redeemer forever, companionship
with pure and glorified
spirits in a realm of biles, the ecstacy
of dwelling forever in the presence of
tlYylrv* wKa Iava/1 11 a anrl waflhftd US
w uu uatu iu ?xjka uu wuu ? -?
from our sins tn his own .blood," and
of praising and serving him In a world
without; end.
This Is the condemnation, awful and
final, that sucn light as this has come
Into the world and men love darkness
rather than light, "Because I have called
and ye refused. I have stretched out
my hand and no man regarded; but ye
have set at naught all my counsel, and
would none of my reproof; I also will
laugh at your calamity, I will mock
when your fear oometh." "When he
is come he will reprove the world of
sfn, and of righteousness, and of
judgment; of am because they believe
not on me."