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PINEY
WOODS
WHAT CAUSED THE PREACHER
TO LET UP SO SUDDENLY
ON THE SINNER.
It was quarterly meeting, and the
Rev. Mr. Brooks, an old friend of my
father’s, was seated at our board.
The holy gentleman was from a small
place several miles away and was
making his quarters at our house
while the meeting lasted. We were
deeply impressed by the fervor and
spirit he threw into his “blessing”
and eating.
Mother had just grated horseradish
previous to dinner and she put it in
a saucer and placed it, as it happen
ed, near the end of the table where
the good man sat. He struck up on
the subject of religion at his first op
portunity, and so scon warmed to his
work. Victuals did not seem to in
terfere with the linguistic power in
the least. A mouthful of potato was
no impediment to his speech, for he
expressed views on the Bible, endless
damnation and the wrath of God in a
sing-song voice through his nose.
In the midst of a picture he was
painting with the utmost enthusiasm,
in which the sinner was being con
signed to the bottomless pit, where
the eternal billows of fire were rolling
and seething and yawning to engulf
the wicked unbeliever, he cast his
eyes on mother’s saucer of horserad
ish. In his excitement he mistook it
for an individual dish of custard plac
ed there for his benefit. He plunged
his spoon into it and landed a heap
ing load in his mouth. He was just
JACOB AND ESAU.
April 6, 1913.
Time—l76o B. C.
Gen. 27-22 to 34.
Place, Beersheba.
THE GOLDEN TEXT—“Jehovah is
a God of justice; blessed are all they
that wait for Him.” —Isa. 30-18.
SUGGESTIVE THOUGHTS.
What should I do?
I. Wait for God. —Isa. 30-18. The
Golden Text.
It had been revealed to Rebekah that
Jacob was chosen of the Lord, but
she could not fully trust the Lord.
Therefore she sought to obtain the
blessing for Jacob by fraud. Had she
waited for the Lord, he would have
made good his promise and Jacob
obtained the blessing without the
evils that followed his fraud. Let
us at al Itimes wait for God. He will
never disappoint us. He will keep
his word and we will get the prom
ised blessings, free from the evils that
cause the blessings obtained by
fraud.
'll. Don’t do evil that good may
come. —Vs. 22 to 29.
Rebekah taught Jacob to do wrong
that he might defeat the plan of Isaac
and obtain the blessing she knew that
God intended for Jacob. The son is
• '.^*xMSSHlK*4|h&>'
preparing to give the sinner the final
hoist into the terrible sea. tut he
never heaved that sinner.
The good man suddenly paused, as
he had worked his victim up to the
brink. He shut his lips tight. A tear
glistened in his eye and coursed hown
his cheek. He arose to his feet and
raised a leg till his knee touched his
eibow. He rubbed the' bald spot on
his head, beat the air frantically with
his hand, and then let out a howl that
scared the children half to death.
Father saw what it was that caused
the holy man to let up on the sinner
so suddenly and wander from the sub
ject, and he seized the pitcher and
poured a pint of water down his
burning throat.
The Rev. Mr. Brooks never dined
at our house again and, unjustly, he
seemed to have taken offense at poor
mother. For the benefit of the anx
ious reader, we will state that “ma”
lived right on all the same.
HAD NO PAIN IN THE INTERIM.
“You’ve been sick a long time,
haven’t you?” sympathizingly remark-
SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON
By B. LACY HOGE, Richmond, Va.
to be pittied who has a mother who
teaches him to do evil. (2 Chron. 22-3
and 4). Rebekah suffered on account
of her evil teachings. She reaped what
she sowed. She lost the companion
ship of her favorite son. She never
saw him again. Rebekah, no doubt,
thought she was doing her part to
fulfill God’s prophecy (Gen. 25-23).
God is not dependent upon man for
the fulfillment of his prophecies. He
would never have us do wrong that
good may come. (Rom. 3-8). Deceit,
lying or wrong of any kind is never
justifiable. God condemns all evil and
when we do wrong, we go contrary
to his will and he will punish the
wrong doer, no matter what may be
his motive. As Rebekah reaped what
she sowed, and Jacob reaped what
he sowed, so we are sure to reap what
we sow. (Gal. 7-7). Sow evil and
you will reap sorrow and suffering.
Sow good and you will reap blessings
and joy.
111. Don’t be partial to one child. —
Vs. 22 to 29.
The partiality of Isaac for Esau and.
of Rebekah for Jacob lead to the
wrongs here recorded. The partial
ity of Jacob for his son Joseph caused
his brothers to take him and to sell
to the Egyptians. Evil always comes
The Golden Age for March 27, 1913
ed a. lady to her poor but uneducated
neighbors.
“Yes, I have had a tedious time of
it. I was confined to the house dur
ing August and I really thought I
had the daminia. I got a little bet
ter, but I was taken down again, No
vember last.”
“Did you suffer in the interim?” ask
ed the lady.
“No, I did not suffer at all in the
interim, the pains were all in my
stomach.” —Pretzel’s Weekly.
SO MUCH LIKE HER HUSBAND’S
SNORING.
“Let’s see; it’s been three months,
Johnson, since your husband died.
Dear me! Don’t you feel lonesome?”
“I did miss my dear husband ever
so much at first, Mrs. Tatler, and
never slept a wink during the first
six weeks, but I don’t miss him much
now.”
“Why, Mrs. Johnson, how you do
talk! What is the reason you don’t
miss your deceased husband now?”
when father or mother is partial to
one of the children above another.
God may overrule this evil for good
as he did in the case of Joseph.
IV. Don’t trust feelings. —Vs. 22 and
23.
Jacob was a deceiver, a liar and a
cheat. He was a pious fraud. He ac
complished his purpose by falsehood
and a pious profession. He said he
found the venison so quickly “because
the Lord thy God brought it to me.”
(V. 20). The meanest of all deceiv
ers, liars and frauds is the one who
professes great piety. Isaac recogniz
ed the voice of Jacob and ssupected
deception and to make sure that it
was Esau, he felt of Jacob and Jacob
felt like Esau and Israel went by his
feelings and made a great mistake.
This is the only case in the Bible
where anyone went by his feelings,
and this one went wrong. The per
son who goes by his feelings is sure to
go wrong. The voice of Jacob he knew,
but he would not trust his hearing.
We know the word of God is true and
yet we too often turn from this to
follow our feelings, and like Jacob
make a serious mistake. Let us in
the future hearken to the word and
voice of God, even though our feelings
contradict God’s word and voice. The
SKETCHES
By MARGARET BEVERLY UPSHAW
“Why, I let the hogs sleep under the
house now, and their quarreling over
the middle of the bed is so much like
my dear husband’s snoring that I can
sleep soundly the livelong night.”
BRIC-A-BRAC.
Ladies Will Please Skip This.
Ladies, skip this paragraph. It got
into type by mistake and the printer
was requested to destroy it, but failed
to do so:
‘Moqs b jo puiq jsßaj aqj sjaS aqs jj
Moqouios jno Ji puq q.aqs jaq uoX jug
lAiouq oj jou jqSno aqs Suiqjauios sjj
‘uriuoAV b SOU.IOM SuqpCuß s.ajaqj ji
•puaq aaq uo Pubjs oj peq aqs jj
‘Moqauios ji jb jaS p.aqs Avauq a.\\
—puaj Xpßa-Jiu SBq aqs uiaod siqj,
Suiqj
-jbj b oj sjuaa uaj jbSbm n,aAv a\om
DISENCHANTED.
Her neck was alabaster white,
I thought sbe was a charming lass.
But soon I saw by steadier light,
Her northeast eye was made of glass.
And when she opened her pretty
mouth,
To take the gum she loved to chew,
And turned her features to the south,
A row of “store teeth” hove in view.
My expectations quickly dropped,
Love’s mercury seemed to drop a
peg;
And when, to tie her shoe, I stopped,
I found she had a wooden leg!
blessings obtained by going contrary
to the word of God are always cursed.
Wrong doing and deception never
pays. Jacob obtained his blessing by
fraud, but the curse was upon him
and this evil followed him all his days.
He could have had the same blessing
without the curse and the evil, by fol
lowing God’s plan.
V.—Don’t sell your birthright.—Vs.
30 to 34.
Esau sold his birthright to Jacob
so ra mess of pottage. He tried to
obtain it again and to get the bless
ing that went with the birthright. His
father aimed to give it to him, but
gave it to Jacob. Esau despised his
birthright and solcj it for the mess of
pottage and when “he would have in
herited the blessing he was rejected.”
(Heb. 12-16, 17). Esau “cried with a
great and exceeding bitter cry.” He
sought the blessing with tears, but his
bitter tears could not bring back that
which his foolish action had thrown
away. The birthright of all “is life
and life more abundantly.” (John
10-10). If we despise our birthright
and sell it for the mess of pottage the
world offers us, we will spend entern
ity shedding bitter tears over our fool
ish bargain.
(Continued on page 13.)
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