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TO*
THE McDUFFlE PROGRESS jMSON, LA.
IMPROVED UNIFORM INTERNATIONAL
SimdaySchool
* Lesson'
(By REV. P. B. F1TZWATER. D.D., Teacher
of English Bible In the Moody Bible Inetl-
tute of Chicago.)
(© 1924, Western Newspaper Union.)
Lesson for May 4
ASSYRIAN EXILE OF ISRAEL
LESSON TEXT—II Kings 17:1-18.
GOLDEN TEXT—“I will delight my
self In Thy statutes: I will not forget
Thy word."—Ps. 119:16.
PRIMARY TOPIC—How a Little Girl
Helped a Great Soldier.
JUNIOR TOPIC—Israel Driven Into
Exile.
INTERMEDIATE AND SENIOR TOP
IC—A Nation Punished for Its Sins.
YOUNG PEOPLE AND ADULT TOP
IC—Lessons From Israel’s Downfall.
I. Israel Taken Into Captivity (vv.
1-6).
This was In fulfillment of that which
Amos had predicted In the days of
Jeroboam II at a time when the nation
was at the height of its prosperity.
The northern kingdom was ruled by
nineteen kings, all of whom were
wicked. Their wickedness was not be
cause of lack of information or op
portunity but in spite of it. God
promised the first king His blessing
If he would he loyal to Him. Jero
boam departed from God and the apos
tasy thus begun continued downward
to the end. In the reign of Hoshea,
the last king, the king of Assyria came
and besieged Samaria and carried the
children of Israel captive to Assyria,
from which they never returned.
II. The Sins Which Caused Their
Doom (vv. 7-18).
1. Conformed to the Ways of the
Heathen (vv.7-9). God had command
ed them not to follow In the ways of
the heathen, but these Israelites, In
stead of maintaining lives of sepa
ration, secretly did that which was
displeasing to God. Secret sins, os
surely as open sins, bring ruin, for all
things are naked and open to Him
with whom we have to do. The One
who visits Judgment upon the sinner
knows all tilings.
2. Serve Idols (vv. 10-17). They not
only compromised by "walking in the
statutes of the heathen," but wor
shiped their gods. It was a short
step from following in the statutes of
the heathen to worshiping their gods.
Before they worshiped idols they cost
off the true God. Indeed idolatry came
Into the world because the race did
not wish to retain God in its affections
(Romans 1 :21-23). Idolatry did not
come in through ignorance but through
willful perverseness. People today
worshiping false gods have first east
off the authority of the living God.
Man is a religious being. When he
ceases to worship the true God he
worships other gods.
3. They Were Rebellious (vv. 13-15).
God by his prophets has said unto
them, "Turn ye from your evil Ways,
and keep my commandments," but
they stubbornly refused His testimony,
even rejected His statutes. God in
love tried to save them. He sent some
of the noblest and best prophets who
ever spoke to men to persuade them
to turn from their sins, such as Eli
jah and Elisha, but they stiffened
their necks and plunged deeper into
wickedness. This they did in defiance
of God.
4. Caused Their Sons and Daughters
to Pass Through Fire (v 17). This
was the dreadful Molech worship, the
most cruel rite of heathen worship. It
was done by kindling a fire in a hol
low metal image until its arms were
red hot and placing live children there
in to be burned to death. This was
the depth to which the Israelites had
sunk.
5. Resorted to Magical Practices
(v. 17). When faith in the true God
wanes men always turn to the magical
arts. In this way the Israelites sold
themselves to evil in the sight of the
Lord and provoked Him to anger.
III. The Judgment Falls (v. 18),
At this stage of the drama the cur
tain dropped. God could not be Inac
tive longer.
1. God Was Very Angry. His anger
Is not raving fury but the revulsion
of His holy nature against sin. God
cannot tolerate sin in His presence.
His wrath must strike. Though He
waits long, the debt must be paid and
that always with compound interest.
There is only one way to escape God’s
wrath; that is to turn from sin unto
God through Jesus Christ.
2. Remove Them Out of His Sight.
The land of Palestine is regarded as
the land of God’s sight—that is, the
place of His manifested presence.
These people are still scattered
among the nations and as a political
organization they will never return
to their land. The judgment was se
vere, but not more so than the sins
merited. God had waited long. The
despising of His grace eventually
works ruin. Therefore, what judgment
must fall upon the people who in the
light of this day reject His grace und
His mercy.
A Study Ga The Seven
Churches Of Asia.
PART SEVEN.
By J. O. Burnett.
Practica 1 Christianity
"Go,” never spells “Stay.” We need
more religion in the s-o-l-e, as well as
In the soul—a walking as well as a
talking religion. The trouble is not
so much with non-church-going masses,
as the non-going church. We need
not only a lookout committee but a
*‘Go-out” committee.—H. G. Gibbud.
A Christian
A Christian Is one who follows
Christ, but Is a leader of men.—Chris
tian Herald.
We now come down to the seventh
and last of the seven churches of
Asia. This is the high-steeple, pipe-
organ, aristocratic, rich church of
them all. The church in Laodicea.
In Rev. 3:14-18 we have a plain de
scription of the church in Laodicea.
And unto the angel of the church of
the Laodiceans write these things
saith the Amen, the faithful and true
witness, the beginning of the creation
of God;I know thy works, that thou
art neither cold nor hot; I would that
thou wert cold or hot. So then be
cause thou art lukewarm, and neither
cold nor hot, I will spue you out of
my mouth. Because thou sayest, I
am rich, and increased with goods,
and have need of nothing; and lcnow-
est not that thou art wretched, and
miserable, and poor, and blind, and
naked: I counsel thee to buy of me
gold tried in the fire, that thou may-
est be rich, and white raiment, and
that thou mayest be clothed, and that
the shame of thy nakedness do not
appear; and anoint thine eyes with
eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
We find from the description given
of the above church that this was
one satisfied church, they said we are
rich, and have need of nothing. We
have become so rich, and have in
creased so in goods, or in other words,
we have the finest church building,
and the most elaborate furnishings,
the finest pipe-organ, and the high
est steeple in the city. Then we have
all the bankers, the lawyers, the doc
tors, and the wealthy men of the
city. We have the kind of a preach
er we want. We don’t stand for any
shouting, or any excitement of any
kind down here. This is the fifth
avenue church. We have nothing but
university men as pastors. We have
none but the very best and most
highly paid singers in the choir. We
don’t stand for, or allow any thing
here but that that is modern, no old
fogyism allowed here. That thing of
folks getting down on their knees to
pray, no not here, we stand to do our
praying.
That thing of crying in the church,
our forefathers, and those that lived
away back years ago, in their ignor
ance, and for like of culture, and
training, they used to cry in the
church, but that is all out of date
now. We believe in doing things in
decency and in order. Some churches,
and some preachers, the way they
take on, why its perfectly awful, they
have the folks to come up and get
down on their knees at what they call
an alter, and they cry and pray, and
take on there, but we don’t see any
use of that, at all. We like the way
of just giving the preacher their
hand, or signing a card, or making
a descision for Christ and joining the
church. Why make all this ado
about this matter. In fact, we folks
here in Laodicea, we are the church,
we never have to go about with a
poor mouth taking up collections, we
are rich and have need of nothing,
we are not bothered with poor folks
in our church. We are the h'.gh-ups,
we are the upper-tens, we don't stand
for anything little. Our church is a
flourishing, prosperous, influential
church. A church of unlimitei re
sources financially, and strong nu
merically.
The church at Laodicea was like
many of our day, had every thing
they needed hut salvation, but this,
they were ignorant of.
God says, while you think that you
are rich, and have need of nothing,
you are a miserable, deluded naked,
blind hellhound bunch. And me
thinks if He was to speak in an audi
ble voice to many of our claim-to-be
rich churches of today, as well as
many that are not rich in their own
eyes, that He would say the same
thing to them. God says you folks
are neither cold nor hot, I had rather
you were cold or hot, and not luke
warm, hut because you are neither
cold nor hot, but lukewarm, I will
spue you out of my mouth. Both
cold drinks and hot drinks are pala
table and desirable; but tepid, luke
warm drinks nauseate, and are often
administered by physicians to their
patients to make them vomit. So
God says here that lukewarm church
es, make Him sick on His stomach,
and He is found vomiting them out.
We read in God’s word of one preach
er that backslided and was swallow
ed by a big fish, and because he was
lukewarm he made the old fish sick
on his stomach, and no doubt the fish
would have died had it not vomited
this backr.liden preacher out. One
of the worst thinks in all this coun
try is a backsliden preacher, what
could be worse? This preacher con
fessed that he was backsliden, and
was willing to give up his job, and
be thrown over board, in order to
save others, but some won’t do that,
they won’t be so honest as that, they
hold on to their job, they stick to
their pulpit, even if others are lost,
Pot Flowers and
Plants For Sale
Several varieties of Ferns.
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Attractive prices. See them at my home
on Jackson street.
MRS. J. T. BRYAN.
and do perish. If all the backsliden
preachers would repent of their back-
slidings and get back to God, and get
the fire of the Holy Ghost in them,
we would soon bring a lost world to
Christ. But if they just won’t do
this, then they should step down and
out, and let God put some others in
their place that will set the woods
on fire. He has the men, some of
them are no doubt, yet between the
plow handles, or in the shop, but He
has the men. We say they must be
trained before they can do the work,
no doubt the training is of very great
importance, but the training that
many are getting today is making
infidels and evolutionist and skeptics
and every thing but soul winners for
God. It’s true the churches are in
need of trained leaders in every de
partment of the work of the chui’ch,
especially in the Sunday school, but
above all else, we need consecrated
leaders in the churches, we need
Spirit filled men and women to teach
and lead our people on to a higher
life. We read in a daily paper just
recently, some extracts from a ser
mon preached by what was called a
great preacher, where he said that
every body was sinners, '.he saved as
well as the unsaved, he said that all
sinned every day, the only difference
was the saved man sinned but was
sorry for his sins, and the unsaved
was not sorry for his sins. No more
dangerous hellish doctrine was ever
handed out from any pulpit, and no
man that knows Christ as a personal
Saviour will preach such hellish stuff
as that.
The churches of this southland of
ours are very much in need of a
great soul-stiring, Holy Ghost revi
val, that will put men and women on.
their faces before God in repentance
and restitution, and if it does not
come and that soon, this will soon be
a dangerous world to live in, for men
are waxing worse and worse as the
days go by. But this revival will
have to start in the pulpit, in the av
erage church, the pulpit is the cold
est, and deadest and most formal
place in the church. O for a revival
that will set fire to our pulpits, und
then it will soon spread to the whole
congregation.
We hear it said so often that our
preacher is a good man, hut his ser
mons or rather dry, he does not put
much pep in his sermons, but he
sure is a good, clever fellow, we all
like him. Beloved, when a preacher
of him that he is a good fellow, then
gets so dead till all that can be said
he needs to hunt an alter some where,
and pray through and get saved.
God says His ministers are a flaming
fire. 0 for more fire in the pulpit.
Then God says, Behold, I stand at
the door and knock. He is not only
knocking at the door of the nation,
and of the world, but He is knocking
at the door of the church, and the
men and women of the church. If
the door is opened, Christ says I will
come in. I wonder just what would
happen if He was to be admitted to
some of the churches we know. I am
thinking that He would first of all
declare the pulpit vacant. He would
say to some other man of God, Be
hold, I set before you an open door.
Then He would send the choir all
home and have them dress up, for
He knows that some of them are
poorly dressed. Their dresses cost
enough, but they are rather short.
And then I think that before He
would let them return to the choir,
He would have an understanding with
them that they were to sing Gospel
songs, and not rag-time songs.
Then I suspect He would make a
scourge of small cords and drive out
the money changers, and overthrow
tho ; r tables, and tell the people that
His Father’s House was a house of
prayer and a place to worship Him,
and not a den of thieve* I just
imagine that the church suppers, cold
or hot, and <he church picture shows
would all be over. The old church
alter would be reastablished arm
made a place for sinners to find a
NO TIME TO HUNT for a doctor
or drug store when suddenly
seized with agonizing intestinal cramps,
deadly nausea and prostrating diarrhoea.
CHAMBERLAIN’S
COLIC and DIARRHOEA
REMEDY
gives instant warmth, comfort and ease
from pain. Never fails.
Saviour and believers to find the
sanctifier and backsliders to be heal
ed of their backslidings. O that He
might be given an opening into the
churches and bring back the old time
fire. He says, I am standing, and
knocking. This implies a readiness
to come in if the door is opened, but
if not it implies a readiness to turn
away. Before He takes His leave
altogether, lets open the door of our
hearts, and the door of the churches
and let Him in.
Concluded.
Most Sensitive Scale
The "grand Imlunce” or scale used
In the Bank of England is so sensitive
that tlie weight of a postage stamp
move's the index six inches.
MONEY TO LEND
CHEAP RATES AND GOOD
TERMS.
If you want to borrow money on
your real estate, call on me and I
think I can make it to your interest.
Valuable Farms and Town Lots.
JOHN T. WEST.
G. T. NEAL
Dentist
Office Over First National Bank
THOMSON, GA.
H. P. NEAL
Dentist
Office Over City Bank. Phone 45
THOMSON, GA.
SPECTACLES,
EYEGLASSES
IKLWjji aim AIM it’ -v. lA i
RYES
Properly Fitted.
DR. HENRY J. GODIN
956 Broad St., Augusta, Ga.
J. T. WEST
Attorney at Law.
Office Over Thomson Drug Co.
THOMSON, GA.
GEORGIA RAILROAD
Passenger Train
Schedule.
CORRECTED TO AUG. 20<h, 1923.
DEPARTURE OF TRAINS AT
THOMSON, GA.
LEAVE
___ 3:34 A.M.
__ 8:24 A.M.
___ 4:23 P.M.
__ 11:55 A.M.
___ 7:54 P.M.
WEST BOUND
No. 3 for Atlanta
No. 1 for Atlanta
No. 7 for Atlanta
No. 5 for Atlanta
No. 9, for Barnett __
EAST BOUND LEAVE
No. 2 for Augusta 11:55 A.M.
No. 8 for Augusta 8:43 P.M.
No. 4. for Augusta 12:59 A.M.
No. 6 for Augusta 5:19 P.M.
No. 10, for Augusta 6:30 A.M.
The Quick Way To All
Florida
—Via—
Georgia & Florida Ry.
OVERNIGHT PULLMAN SERVICE
AUGUSTA TO JACKSONVILLE
JAY-LIGHT TRIP—
Leave Thomson 6:30 AM
Arrive Augusta 8:20 AM
-eave Augusta 8:20 AM
Arrive Jacksonville 8:50 PM
NIGHT TRIP—
j Leave Thomson 5:19 PM
Arrive Augusta 6:30 PM
|Leave Augusta 8:00 PM
'Arrive Jacksonville 8:00 AM
Leave Jacksonville 9:05 PM
Arrive Augusta 8:40 AM
I For further information or reser-
ivations write or wire
J. E. KENWORTHY, G. P. A.
,R. C. HICKS, T. M
I Augusta, Gv
In 1923
Buick. sold
210(286
motor cars
for which
the public paid
(302352950.
not including"
war tax or freight
A. H. CURTIS & SON
Thomson, Ga.
When, better automobiles are built, Buiclc will build them
4kiftdsofstirfgce
ROU.
FimS
You may want five years or ten years or twenty years of
Bervice. We have light weight roofing for short term buildings
and heavier weights for permanent buildings.
You can have your choice of red or green crushed slate sur
face, grapevine talc surface, smooth mica surface, or sand
finish surface.
Each kind is sold in three or four different w ights and is
priced according to its weight. v .
Thus Carey Roll Roofings protect every type V>f building
for the term of service required and give you the biggest
value in each weight—and in the long run the lowest cost per
year of service.
Thomson Hardware Co.
Thomson, Ga.
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