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| The, Sunday School |
THE TEST OF ABRAHAM'S FAITII.
March 1?, 1913. Gen. 22:1-19. Print
Gen. 22:1-13.
Golden Text: "1 desired mercy, and
not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God
more than burnt offerings."?iHosea 6:6.
HOME DAILY HIBLE READINGS.
M.?Gen. 22:1-13.
T.?Rom. 4:13-25.
W.?Matt. 15:21-28.
Th.?Heb. 11:32-40.
P.?Phil. 3:1-16.
S.?Jhs. 1:1-12.
S.-Rom. 8:31-39.
SHORTER CATECHISM.
Q. 41. "Wherein la the moral law sum^
marlly comprehended?
A. The moral law la summarily comprehended
In the ten commandments.
Lr.ssoj OUTLINE.
The strange command to Abraham, vs.
1. 2.
His prompt obedience, vs. 3-5.
The attempted sacrifice, vs. 6-lfl.
Isaac delivered, Abraham rewarded,
vs. 11-19.
LESSON STUDY.
Connection: Abraham's faith bad already
been strangely tested, but God
would have one supreme proof to give
to the world, something so commanding
in Its nature and in all its conditions
that no one would ever doubt that Abraham
deserved his name and place as
the "father" of all them that believe.
Time and Place: A son had at last
been given the aged couple. He had
been named Isaac, or Laughter. In him
Abraham's hope was centered. He had
now reathed the age of perhaps eighteen
or twenty, some think perhaps as
mum ?d LwcuLy-iive years. ADraliani
was living at that time near Beersheba,
more than two days' journey south of
Moriah. The spot in the land of Moriah
wnere the scene of the lesson's incident
occurred is almost -universally
believed to be the Mount Moriah on
which the temple was afterwards built.
A Long: Journey: It was no little way
up to Moriah. Each hour of the Journey
would ?idd its agony to the heart of
God's servant and would make more
signal the proof of his obedience and
faith. The deliberation of the whole
proceeding tells us, wltih more emphasis
than any words could describe, the
story of Abraham's submission and
trust.
The Shnrpn^M of the Test: The command
to Abraham to go up to the Land
. of Morlah and there offer his son Isaac
waR in terms calculated to add poignancy
to the father's grief. After so
many years' waiting, when the hope deferred
that had made his heart sick
wun m nisi lumen into tne beginning of
a happy realization, ne miwrt surrender
that "bov. "Take now thy son, thine only
son, whom thou lovest, and offer him
for a burnt offering." It seemed as If
God would remind him In every syllable
of the order of the dreadful nature of
the ordeal through which he must pase.
Whom Thon Lovest: The offering to
God of that which costs us nothing, or
which has no value, or about -which no
affection or Interest clusters, does not
fminh ntt? V? no m
.vuvu vui n^ai i tiuQ ib moTBTore little
llfceTy to touch Ood's iheart. He would
have what we prize, and only what la
dear to na In a real sacrifice In the giving.
That la why Paul praised the
Macedonian OhrlaMans for giving "first
their own selves."
A Rami Offering; The slti offering
THE PRESBYTER1,
signified atonement for guilt. The peace
offering was for communion and was
somewhat sacramental in its nature.
The burnt offering always meant consecration,
and it was, unllko the others
"a whole" burnt offering, signifying
complete consecration to God. Thus the
demand of Abraham was that he give
proof of the wholeness of his consecra
tion by giving his son, his heart's idol,
the best thing he had on earth.
Will Go Yonder and Worship: Was
Abraham telling an untruth? If he was
without faith it was anything but worship.
He was in earnest. His soul was
so filled with faith and readiness to
obey that he converted the act that he
was about to perform into one of worship.
Ilad this not been the case with
him, bis words would have been false.
And had he not meant thorn seriously
and as an expression of his real purpose.
he would have let drop some hint
or intimation of what was proposed and
would thus have courted an interference
wnicn might result in saving his son.
Worship or Murder: M the spirit of
worship -was not in the whole transaction.
it will fbe hard to acquit Abraham
of a crime. The sublimity of his faith
lifted him above every other thought
It was not fanaticism. It was too cool
and deliberate for that. Such a wise,
eelf-polsed man could not be run away
with by wild notions of religious duty.
Abraham's faith converted even (his sorrow
into worship.
Where Is the Lamb for an Offering:
Isaac's question was a very natural one.
iic wud uiu cuuugn 10 reason, lie Knew
his father was not guilty of hollow
mockery, in the announcement that he
would go yondor and worship. There
was no lack of faith on Isaac's part
here, for it was not faith in him that
was the question here. He saw everything
else that was needful for sacrifice
except the lamb for the offering. He
knew that the shedding of blood was
needful in a proper approach to God.
Ood Will Provide Himself a Lnmh:
These words showed the climax of faith.
The agonized father so trusted In God
that he would accept God's appointment
of even the youth iRaac as lust and
right. He believed that God could raise
up other sons 1o (him out of the very
stones. Abraham doubtless also bad
more knowledge than we sometimes
suspect, of the Lamb of God that talreth
away the sin of the world. Jesus once
said of Mm: "Abraham saw my day and
was glad." The words, "God will provide
himself a lamb," were more than
an expression of faith. They were
splendidly prophetic then and to the
end of the world.
Isaac's Acquiescence: The young
man was surely strong enough to resist
his aged father. Yet there Is no intliretion
here or elsewhere that he
raised a hand In defence of his life or
uttered a word or cry of expostulation.
In his own trust and filial obedience he
displayed a faith which was little less
sublime than that of his father.
The An eel of the Lord: This was the
Son of God, who himself was foreshadowed
in this scene, interposing to
nave Abraham from the last act In the
traredv Rp
. - - ? |/.w.tv.vu CJ i>C Ul
himself, and yet acce?pted. Abraham's
willingness and complete consecration
the same as If Abraham bad gone to the
extreme length of the sacrifice of his
son. He saw that the faithful believer
would not withhold even his dearest
treasure. He saw that Abraham would
surrender all his hopes st the bidding
or uoa.
In tl?? Stead of Hh Sont The Lord
provided another sacrifice. So has he
done for all them that believe. "Behold
the T^amb of Ood. that taketh awnv
fhe sin of the world." Wtthont shedding
of Mood Is no remission. Ood pave his
own sor. that by one offering be might
perf??it fOrevnr rh?m that are snmet.lfletl
AN OF THE SOUTH
IYmm? Peooto's Snrirtidl I
I J "r" II II
THE 1.(Mill's DAT.
Topic for Sundny, March 16: Hon
Maj Ercry Sabbath be "The Lord's
Dayf?Jeremiah 17:21-27. p
h
DAILY READINGS. p
Monday: Day of rest. Ex. 20: 8-11. w
Tuesday: Day of service. -Matt. 12: I1
9-13. o
"Wednesday: Day of worship. Luke P
4:16-21. b
Thursday: Day of vision. Rev. 1:9-13. 8
Friday: Day of fellowship. 1 Corinth. n
12:1-7. a
Saturday: Day of witnessing. Acts it
17:1-4. o
"The Sabbath is to he sanctified by a
holy resting all that day, even from such b
worldly employments and recreations as o
may he lawful on other days, and the
HnPTlHlncr thft nrKnlft Mmn
? r ?? ttvtw i?mw < u biiv |y uu,', iv
and private exercises of God's worship, P
except so much as may be taken up in 11
the works of necessity and mercy."
The first and most striking feature Of
the Sabbath day is the cessation from n
ordinary labor. It is appointed for rest. 1'
Any kind of unnecessary work on that P
day violates its fundamental principle, h
The human body is a splendid ma- n
ohine, but it can no more run forever e
than any other material machine can do 1
so. Repairs, recuperation, drawing new c
supplies, are indispensalble. r<
. Even the mind does its best work by 14
restful changes, ceasing for a time to c
do one thing and devoting itself to an- ^
other. When rested it comes back to ?
the first task with vigor and a more ll
masterful grasp.
The labor that is involved In devoting 8
the day to Qod's service does not violate a
the principle of the day. It is of the 11
nature of rest for it is the perfection *
of restful change. It totally withdraws k
hands, heart and mind from toil. t(
God himself "has guarded against any
misinterpretation of his meaning and ^
purpose in appointing the Sabbath and
ordering its observance. The ox in the J)
ditch principle, the gathering and pre- y
paration of needful food, the duty to relieve
distress, are made plain enough.
That the Sabbath Is allied, as a neces- j]
slty, to the very nature of man, is shown Q
by the fact that It was appointed in ^
Eden, that it was observed by Cain and ^
Abel, that it was known and sanctioned B
long before Moses, and that the initial g
words of the Sabbath convrruyjfl are
His -word 1b plain enough. Abstinence b
from all unnecessary toll, attending to e
that which 1b needful only In a mlnlnrmn e
degree, devoting a part of the day to o
kind effort to help others, giving as
much of the day as we can to the sincere.
heartful worship of God. will be i
acceptable to him vd helpfnl to our- J
selves 1
'.Remember the Sabibath Day." n
Growing out of the primary feature p
of the Sabbath, a day of Test, there Is n
another, closely connected with It, and n
that Is the feature of convocation. Not o
being at work, men may find time to get h
together for worship. So everywhere In o
the Bible we find that the rest day was d
also the day for the assemblages of h
God's people. n
And yet even here evil may come, If s
we are not careful. In these dayB of U
strenuous chtrrch life there Is some- s
times such a thing as "religious dlB- n
slpatlon." The multiplied forma of
Christian activity, and largely the multl- a
plication of organization or machinery, o
have canned this. Ood hardly wishes us ti
to exhaust our physical strength on his F
day etven by religious activiitles. - 11
To make eTerv Sabbath a true "Lord's ii
Pay," we cannot do "better than to fol- c
low the lord's will and his direction, fi
[March 5, 1913
The Prayer Meeting
TIIE IMPORTUNATE FRIEND.
?
Lake 11:5-8. Week of March 9.
The disciples had seen their Master
raying in a certain place and when he
ad ceased, asked him to teach them to
ray. He then gave them the model
hich we have named The Lord's
rayer. He follows this with a lesson
n importunity, whidh we have In this
aTable. Not only is prayer necessary,
ut earnest, persevering prayer is inIsted
upon. The energies of the scrul
lust be enlisted. There must he fixed
nd continued thought. Desire and longig
must grow by exercise. The object
f desire must assume definlteness. The
ling desired must assume magnitude
y reason of deliberate and repeated
onte.upletion. Faith must triumph
tirough perseverence.
The circumstance, or imagery of this
arable is as follows. In the hot coun
ries of the East It was and is usual to
ravel in the cool of the evening and #
ae first hours of the night. A friend
lay arrive late and unexpected, needig
food and rest, and find his host unrepared
to entertain him. The host
aving "nothing to set "before Him," a
eighbor is appealed to in the emergncy
and a loan of sufficient food is re- '
uested. The neighbor protests and delines
because he and his family have
etired for the night and he is unwilling
j be disturbed. The host is urgent and
ontlnues .pleading. Finally the neighor-frlend
supplies the food, not because
f friendship, but because of Imiporanity.
The force of the parable is subtantlally
this: If importunity in such
case is successful, notwithstanding
aman selfishness and the inconvenience
rhich is often incident to bestowing
indness, how much more reasonable
3 expect that God will hear our pleadig
petition, which enlists the fervor and
teadfa9tnes8 of the soul, when it is his
elight to 131688 and he has specifically
romised the blessings that we cTave.
. von. Been.. kiiuck. ' are cne worae
sed to express the simplicity and dlectness
of prayer. The God that hears
* aboundant In. goodness and truth, deIghts
In mercy and no hour or moment
f supplication Is unseasonable with
im. rr he delays to answer, It Is that
be practice of petition may make us
tronger to prevail and more devoutly
Tateful to receive.
There are those who ask and receive
ot One may ask for that which Is not
roraised, or he may ask from wrong
lotlves, through irnhold desire, or he
iay ask without definite dee lye for the
bject of his request, or he may ask for
ollncss while crtlll cleaving to his sin,
r he may ask for gifts without using
IMgence to obtain them, or he may ask
i a soir-rignteous spirit, not feeling the
eed Of a Mediator, or he may ask for
pi ritual gifts as secondary to -worldly
lterests. In all such caBes the very esence
of acceptable prayer Is absent
luch less Is there real Importunity.
On the other hand, when one comes
s unworthy and contrite, In the name
f his Redeemer, asking for salvation, or
a he endowed with the graces of the
loly Spirit, waiting upon God and hap
ig In his mercy, having no confidence
i the flesh, realising that all help must
one from him, that soul shall be satised.
The promise is unconditional to
uCh a suppliant "Bvory one that askth
receiveth, and he that eeeketh flndth
and to him that knooketh it shall be
pened."
"We all have our secret sins; and if
ve know dursstves, we should not
udigp other hnrehly.?George
oltot