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The Sunday School |
THE FLOOD.
February 2, 1913- Gen. ?:9-22; 7:11-24.
Golden Text: "The wages of sin is
death: hut the gift of God is eternal life
through Jesus Christ our Lord."?Rom.
G:Z3. <
HOME DAILY BIBLE READINGS.
M.?Gen. 6:9-22.
T.?Gen. 7:11-24.
W.?Amos 2:6-16.
Th.?Psalm 73:1-20.
P.?Ezek. 18:21-32.
2 Thessa. 1:1-10.
S.?1 John 1:1-10.
SHORTER CATECHISM.
Q. 35. What Is sanctiflcation?
A. Sanctiflcation Is the work of God's
free grace, whereby we are renewed in
?ne wnoie man- aner <ine image 01 uoo,
and are enabled more and more to die
unto sin and live unto righteousness.
LESSON OUTLINE.
One godly man In an ungodly world, vs.
9:12.
The flood coming and the ark prepared,
vs. 13-22.
The world destroyed. Noah
saved in the ark, oh. 7:11-24.
LESSON STUDY.
The Times According to the Ussher
chronology, the Flood occurred B. C.
234S. This date is accepted by very
few scholars, however. It is difficult
to construct any chronology covering
the period before Abraham. And happily
for us the matter of the time or
dote is not one that concerns the faith.
The Locality: iLf the Flood was limited
and r.of universal, then it may be
proper to seek a location for it. The
chief argument for its limited area being
the limited population of the world
at that time, its location must have been
somewhere near the cradle of the human
race, in the regions adjacent to the
Rivers Rnphrates and Tigris.
Growth of Population: The human
race must have multiplied with extraordinary
rapidity. The great age of
early man, the absence of causes tend
lug to lessen healthfulness and large
families, the simplicity of the life and
food of mankind were natural causes of
great growth in numbers. In addition
to this. God doubtless made it his purpose
to people the earth rapidly.
Growth of Knowledge and Arts:
There are indications that the early
generations knew very much of the arts.
The monuments and their testimony
confirm the BHble. The latter tells of
the early devotion, of men to agriculture.
music, working in brass and iron,
poetry. Some even go so far as to make
or .\<aaman, me sisier 01 luoai-emn, me
originator of women's fashions!
Growth In ^1n: Unfortunately, there
was equal growth In iniquity. The
human family became divided Into the
calnltes and the Sethltes, the former
men of pronounced and open wickedness.
The evil prevailed over the good,
Insomuch that "the wickedness of men
was great In the earth, and every imaefnation
of the thoueht of his heart
whs only evil continually." God's
Spirit strove with man, but the time
rame when he could no longer bear
with patience the evil state of man's
heart.
Preachers of Itig-hteonsness: Testimony
for the truth and against sin iby
no means ceased. Noah was a "preacher
of righteousness," ns was also Enoch,
as was doubtiese also Seth. This old
line o? "preachers of righteousness" was
probabir that which projected itself further
down the ages and appeared in
pure and vigorous form in Melchizedek
*> H S PRESBYTERli
and Jethro, ant! later, in corrupt form
and as about to fade away, in Balaam.
The early members of this line doubtless
proclaimed the gospel and preached
faith as the means of righteousness.
Noah n Man of Faith: That this last
assertion is warranted, may be seen
from the statement in Hebrews that "by
faith Xoah. being warned of God of
things not seen as yet, moved with fear,
prepared an ark to the saving of his
house; by which he condemned the
world, and became heir of the right-*
cousness which is ,by faith."
The Covenant's Hlesslnes: Noah's
faith reached, in its benefits, to his children.
There is no account of his sons'
Having anyinimg nae rne iaicn or tneir
fathers. But God saved them, through
Noah, from the waters of the Flood.
"The promise is unto you and to your
children." And it brought blessing as
well to the creatures, for through it a
remnant was saved 'bv which the world
was again stocked with animal life.
Extent of the Flood: The language
used concerning the extent of the Flood
is now interpreted by very few as teaching,
necessarily, that the Flood was universal.
The terms "earth," "the wholo
heaven." etc., may be very reasonably
limited to the region inhabited by man.
The race was not yet widely scattered.
j ne purpose or uoa was ruiiy accomplished
by that Flood's covering only
the inhabited parts of the world. These
and other reasons have led to the almost
unanimous judgment, in these latter
days, that the theory of the limited
extent is the more tenable.
The Proof of the Flood: The Blb\c
story is corroborated by the traditions
of almost all the older races of men.
These traditions have been given special
clearness in the ancient Babylonian
records, some of which have been unearthed
within recent vears. one esoee
ially as recently Z3 only two years ago.
There are not wanting, too, valuable
signs which geologists have discovered
in the parts of the world adjacent to
man's earliest home, of some such cataclysm
as that described In the Holy
Scriptures.
The Ark: The Divine Architect doubtless
had the oversight and directed his
faithful servant Noah; yet the latter
was possessed of much skill and unlimited
knowledge and patience. The
product which his scores of years of labor
brought forth was singularly con
formed to the lines or modern nautical
RCience and ship-building. Those ancient.
worthies probably knew very
many things that have been forgotten.
"Who to-day can compete with their enterprise
in masonry, or can give any
satisfactory theory for the way in which
ihey accomplished such results as are
seen in Egypt or near Baalbec? And
what would not the builders of to-day
give for the secret of the ancients' art
in plaster work?
The Stages of the Flood: First, there
was ram iorty days and forty nights,
accompanied toy a breaking up of "the
fountains of the great deep," a phenomenon
which many think may have
been a subsidence of the land that the
waters of the seas might pour in. Then
the waters "prevailed," after they had
lifted un the Ark, and covered the highest
inhabited land. This lasted for one
hundred and fifty days. Then the waters
began to assuage. After awhile the
Ark rested upon a mountain, on tho
seventeenth day of the seventh month.
Two months and thirteen days later the
tons nf the mountains wars saati Vnrt.,
? *v
days later the raven was sent forth, and
a dove, and later two period* of seven
Jays eaeh. the dove returning no more
On the completion of a year the waters
were dried up and the covering of the
Ark was removed, and a mon'h end
twenty-seven days later Noah and his
family and all that were In the Ark
came forth.
iN OF THE SOUTH
[Young People's Societies]
ENDEAVOR PRINCIPLES.
Topic for Sunday, February 2: ChrisHan
Endeavor Principles and How to
Cphold Them, .lohn 11:6-15.
n 11i.v avinivns
Monday: Bible reading. 2 Tim. 3:14V7.
Tuesday: Devotions. Eph. 2:16-20.
"Wednesday: Service. Luke 10:33-37.
Thursday: Church attendance. Heb.
10:16-25.
Friday: Qivic righteousness. Psalm
21:1-10.
Saturday: How to support them. 1
Tim. 4:0-16.
The fundamental principle of every
Young People's Society, next after faith
in Christ, is that of obligation. All the
members have agreed and promised to
each other , to the church, and to God,
to do certain things.
Faithfulness tr-> these rthllffnUnnc ta
faithfulness not to the Society, tout to
oneself and to Christ. The vow is
u:ade not. to one's fellow-members, but
to God and the register of it is in heaven
more than on earth.
One of the pledges is that concerning
the reading of God's Word. This is to
be upheld simply by doing it! As a task
it is easy enough. A half-hour a day
may be snared in the busiest life, to
feed the soul. And what a profit will
come! "All Scripture is given by in
spiration of God and i3 profitable for
doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for
instruction in righteousness, that the
man of God may be perfect, thoroughly
furnished unto all good works."
Another pledge concerns one's devotions.
"Restraining prayer, we cease
to fight." Constant companionship with
God is needful to the soul's energy and
life. He is the source from which it
draws strength. Through Christ we
"have access by one Spirit unto the
Fathpr " "Writlinllt ma va non Ar\ TirvfVi
ing " Tthe companionship of the believer
with his Savioirr should be as close
as that of a child with its father or
mother, the intimate, unaffected, constant,
free companionship of a happy
und well-ordered home.
Another pledge is that of service.
"No man liveth unto himself." "We are
merr.lbers one of another." The relations
of life cannot be shaken ofT. And
duties grow out of those relations. The
salvation of the soul heightens and
brightens those relations, converting
them into channels for usefulness and
service greater than we knew before,
and we are "saved to serve." The promotion
of this fundamental principle
and duty may he found in the faithful
practice of it. In serving we learn better
how to serve.
Another pledge is that of church attendance.
Here is a point at which the
members of the Boclety and their church
come in very close contact. And here
is where the members have many a
time done least to uphold their principle.
The duty is based upon God's
work. "Forsake not the assembling of
yourselves together." "I was glad when
they said: Let us go into the bouse of
the Lord." 'As the pastor and a few
faithful attendants have filed into this
church for the evening service they
have often seen the "endeavorers" filing
out! Is it any wonder that the .Young
People's Society has sometimes discouraged
the pastor rather than helped
him.
The society is not complete in prayer,
uiHi in rcauiMLg, una in anenmng upon
its own meetings, or in talks, or in
"testimony" in the meeting. It Is the
church, as to its younger element, and
work, in the faithful and regular worship
of the church, in spiritual activity
along the lines which Ood has Indicated.
[ January 22, 1913
J The Prayer Meeting
THE TWO SOXS.
Mntt 21:2840.
Our lord's parables were prompted
usually by conditions that confronted
him at the time. In this case the chief
priests had demanded his authority for
the truths that he taught and the deeds
that he performed. He replied "by raising
the question of their willingness to
know the truth and abide by It They
refused to commit themselves. He then
spoke thds parable as a means of exposing
their insincerity and unfaithfulness.
At best they were only blind guides
w<ho were misleading others. They had
professed to believe in the promised
Messiah and to be waiting to welcome
him. He had come and the proof of his
messlahship had been furnished by the
clear and repeated testimony of John,
the evidence furnished by his own character,
doctrine and miracles, and by the
.writing of the prophets. They could
not confess that the baptism of John
was from heaven without confessing
ulso John's witness to Christ, who had
been certified to by the descent of the
Holy Spirit and a voice from heaven
saying, "This Is my beloved Son in
ur^/\m T a tvt moll nloae/ul ''
?? nuai x uui TI v?*i jiitao\7U.
These chief priests and elders represented
the classes who professed the
most zealous regard for religion and
were the most prominent apparent supporters
of it Yet our Lord showed
them that they were more inveterate
enemies than the most profligate classes
of the whole nation, the social and relig
ious outcasts .from among their own
people.
The father of the two sons represented
our Heavenly Father as Ruler and
Benefactor of all and especially as tihe
God of Israel. The first of the two sons
represented the avowedly ungrateful
and disobedient Jews who nevertheless
finally repented and became followers
of our Lord. The second son represented
the priests, scribes and Pharisees,
wttio were exceedingly religious, ibut in
real it V WArP thA mnlrnot pnamiao n?
gospel.
.Jesus asks these religious formalists
which of these two sons did the will of
their father. By this Inquiry he meant
to ask which of the two classes of Jews
were really sincere and obedient. When
they could not but confess that the latter
of the two was the more obedient,
he applied their answer and1 declared
plainly that the most despised classes
of their nation would enter Into the
kingdom before themselves. This had
'been evident already in the course of
Tnhn'c minlotrv Pn. *V, 1<
W * v? ??TI ui-.u IIIC OI I1UVB
and Pharisees had rejected John's
teaching or had insincerely assumed the
form of godlinese and been denounced
by John as hypocrites and a "generalion
of vipers," many of the publicans
and harlots received his testimony, (became
penitent and accepted Christ as
Israel's Messiah.
Thie parable is sometimes applied
ro the great crisis in the history of the
TawlnVt nflflnn imMoVt J ?
WW<?U ??wv<wu nmvil nOD lUlClUiU 111
prophecy and verified toy the curse pronounced
and visited upon that once
chosen and but finally rejected people.
The truth of the parable applies -with
solemn emphasis to all the stages of the
Church's progress when classes and individuals
have special opportunity and
make respectful profession of religion,
but in heart and life do not the things
that God commands.
Every man can "build a chapel in his
breast, himself the priest, his heart the
saorlflco. and the earth he treads on the
altar.?Jeremy Taylor.