The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1888-11-21
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
SERIOUS SUBJECTS CAREFULLY AND
ABLY CONSIDERED.
A Scholarly Exposition of tho Lesson
Thoughts Worthy Of Calm Reflec-
tion-Half an Hours Study of the Scrip
turos-Time Well Spent.

turos-Time Well spent
The lesson for Nov 20 may be found in
Joshua xiv. 1928
WHAT THE LESSON TEACHES
le cannot serre tee LOrd. True. indeed.
was "a bold statement TO make. but sui se-
luent events proved its correctness. for
Judges follows Joshua. -fe cannot serve
rod and mammon." The pure i'm heart
shall see God" Only as the life il given up
o Jehovah's service is there real ana rela-
Die service. Good master. what shall do ?
Go sell all thou hast" Do? He could do
nothing. The young man could not serve tho
lord because he was not ready to yield up
Ill and acknowledge Christ alone as Master.
Service means self-giving. self-forgetting.
Ief-death. Have you learned that? Said
he monk TO the prior: What is death to
elfT" Said the father prior: Go out to the
graye OF Brother Martin, who died the other
lay, and say all the i'll things you have
heard OF or can think OF about him." The
Young monk returned. saying. Il have done
so. father prior" Did he answer you any
hing?' said the father. NO. sir" Then
90 and say all the good things you can OF
he deceased" The young man returned.
saying, He answered never word"
That. said the prior. lis what it means to
De dead 10 the world"
He l1W not forgive. More fearful words.
IN one sense, were never spoken. We re-
member "A conversation long ago which
Harry and Robert, child philosophers were
keep it?" said Harry. referring 10 some
small exchange. I'll keep it," said Robert.
m his slow. solemn way. I'll keep it-tU
God dies. What an awful thought-awfut
ruth. shall L say, the lad unwlttingly ut
teredl There are men living out of whose
lives God seems to have died. the God of
forgiveness; men TO whom. as we read in
Hebrews. there remaineth no more sacri-
Ice for sins" men who, as Paul tells us in
Romans are -1ithout God and Without hope
i'm he 10 In sCfp in.
our Bible classes and teachers meetings
why God should eXterminate the Canaan
ties. 1t has seemed difficult to make such
Tell ana fearful Judgments to comport with
our conception OF Il merciful deity. But do
we know the iniquity OF Canaan? Do we
understand the sink OF bestiality into which
she had sunk herself? 1t was sin cutting
Itself of from salvation. Man can shut
heavens door OF mercy, close and tight.
rom this side. Where there is no room for
human repentance there is no place for di-
vine forgiveness. Reprobdcy-put it back
IN your working vocabulary, brother.
after that ne hath done you good The
I doctrines OF tho preservation OF the saints
and Of the perseverance OF the saints are to
De taken together. Gods rectitude is vim
1icated both in judgment and in mercy. II
We call down his judgment, we shall have
perfect justice, and If we fee to his mercy
sc shall have perfect mercy. and it is the
same God that acts in either case. His
mercy is just. and his judgments are, as
concerns the race. mercifuL Moreover his
Mercy sets the pattern and measure Of his
Justice. Have you not read Josh. %: l5) OF
lsrae! in transgression. "as all good things
ire come upon you so shall the Lord your
Tod bring upon you all euu things" AS
iod is faithful TO give grace to the lowly. so
he also faithful to visit wrath upon the
naughty. And that same wrath may de-
scend upon the heads of those who have
before known OF his mercy. Indeed. it was
o be more tolerable for heather Tyre and
Sidon than for the privileged cities Of
srae Have you known the grace OF Godp
Then be very meek and humble, you are al
he more fitted TO appreciate his wrath
against sin and TO seek its avoidance.
Nay. but lce lCW serpe the Lord. The saw
.ng quality in Israel. this. Whenever she
lalted TO make sober choice it was always
or God. Israel, with all her wanderings.
lad n face persistently turned toward God.
She beat a path Godward. You could tell
hat her course was upward toward the hill
Zion from the very fact that so often she
| 'aced time-serving world. She held her
way right up against the slipping currents
VI worldliness. You could tell her decision
and purpose by that which she met and left
behind her. We were climbing week or
so ago up toward the lower plateaus that
skirt the Rockies Climbing. but we did
not know IL, so gradual was the ascent
! from the low-lying Nebraska prairies. But,
presently. as we looked out OF the window
# our car, we caught sight of little
brook flowing rapidly by us and in the di-
rection we had come. Then We knew.
Just because of the swift opposite course
| IF that natural current we knew that we
we're mounting upward. And when we
| ooked again there were the snow-capped
nils.
| We are witnesses. It is what we say every
Sabbath day Our Lords day services.
/ ike our gatherings for prayer. have special
/ significance. as pertains to Christians. AS
we come into the Lords house we are say
/ ing, zoe are witnesses As we listen rever-
! emily to the word we are saying, Ice are
CitneSseS. AS we bow our heads In devo-
/ lion we are saying, zoe are 1cttneSseS. As
/ we lift our voices in song we are saying. zee
are tCibleSSes. Witnesses OF what? OF our
! pledge aud promise that we will serve the
Lord. That is Sundays Witnessing. Now.
! what of the week day? Does ii go straight
along with Sundays testimony or does it
= urn about and face the other way? How
| FAR Is il 10 Philadelphia" said the boy
trudging along the highway. TWentv-fUe
! thousand miles the way you arc going. was
| the answer, fire miles il you turn about
and 60 tho other direction" Which way
does your weekday witnessing point.
friend? Does il look the same direction as
Sundays pious testimony?
Joshua iCrOte these cords in The Book. He
was determined TO secure the people TO the
Lord. so he had recourse TO the book of the
law Of God. We can write nothing down in
the book. but we can and should lead every
deciding soul to the book OF God. Says
Moody TO the inqury-room workers. Leave
every penitent soul with his finger on the text
that gave him light" Let every great expe-i
rience OF the soul connect itself with some
Bible verse. They were making their brief
testimonies in the after meeting. Said one:
He that beoveth on the Son hath everlast-
ing life. / believe in the Son. I" spoken
very slowly and soberly) hare everlasting
tfe." Can you put your finger in faith on
Scripture?
For 10 hath heard. Walls have ears. Not
only mouth TO speak but an ear to listen.
Think of il. What has the wall of your
room. the door Of your closet heard OF your
pledge and promise 20 God2 Did but the
stones under our feet or the walls over our
heads speak out. alas how they would re-
buke our unfaithfulness. Well, some time
they shall speak and bear their witness.
Shall we be asking them then TO fall upon
us and hide us2 God forbid II hath heard.
What have the walls wherein this lesson is
taught to-day heard of faiths testimony?
How sacred in such a manner the house OF
God. We're we wrong when there in the old
adobe cathedral on Mission Hill i'm San
francisco, amid the signs OF worshiping
nultitudes long passed, we knelt in prayer
and sef-devotement2 Gods house is holy
ground. holy for communion with God.
What shall these walls hear to-day of cove
nant and conservation?
Neat Lesson-"Israel under the judges
I Judges 2: 11-23