The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1888-03-22
TIE WORK REVIEWED.
LESSON XIII, FIRST QUARTER, INTER-
NATIONAL SERIES, MARCH %.

NATIONAL SERIES, MARCH 25.
Developments of Life and Doctrines as
Taught in tho Lessons for the First
Three Months of the Present Year Pre-
pared Especially for This Paper
Tho lessons of the first quarter open with
the conflict il the mind of Herod and his COM
pleto surrender to sin-an appalling ilustra-
tion OF how rapidly sin accumulates Once
insnaic;l by the brilliant and wicked Hero
dias, be proceeded to violate in rapid success
sion the most vital commands in the Jewish
law, marrying his brother Philips wife while
her husband and his own wife were alive,
then living in open violation of the law,
then imprisoning John the Baptist and
finally having him murdered at the instiga-
tion of pYoiligate dancing girl. Such ara
the steps from lust to murder, as so often
shown in our own criminal courts The
mother s;nnod the daughter sinned with hers
in consequence John the Baptist lost his life,
but Herod lost his immortal soul.
John the Baptist had excited such interest
in the minds of devout Jews, who hoped for
a Messiah speedily, that soon after his death
some OF them came to Jesus and asked ques-
tions, showing that they believed OF trusted
that he was John returned to life again
Jesus retired for a while to dessert placer
on the north side of tho Sea of TibeIias.
There he performed the miracle of feeding
the multitude" which is the subject of the
second lesson of tho quarter. His remarks
TO the disciples teach the great lesson OF com
passion-tllat Christians must do ell within
their power TO relieve physical suffering as
| We'll as moral How deeply this doctrine
was implanted in the new system is shown
by one glorious and significant fact: Among
| the earliest acts OF the Christians, after they
obtained liberation, was the Inauguration of
| hospitals and of all the grand charitable in
| stitutions of the world today, not one in "a
hundred is under other than Christian dircc-
ton The modern hospital system Is the
child of Christianity. Heathenism could
| point to its temples and eltaIs, and iniidelity
boasts of some orators ard public halls; but
neither of them is capable of such sacrifices
as are shown by the devoted women who
walk in danger and pestience 90 relieve the
| sick, and neither ever founded such institu-
| tons as make glorious and immortal tho
names of so many benevolent Christians
The third lesson-Jesus Walking ON the
| Sea-teaches his divine mastery over ma
ture and the necessity of faith in his power; :.
and the fourth-Jesus and the Affected-em-
| phasizcs tho teaching of the second The So
called Canaanitish woman, whose daughter
was healed, was one of that ancient race
| bordering Judea on the southwest--substan-
| tally the same people as the Ph@nicians and
| Carthaginians, a people detested by the Jews.
| Hence this miracle was matter of surprise
to the disciples. The fifth lesson--Peter Con-.
Tossing Christ--contains the material for
many thousand volumes of controversy. III
is sufficient to say here that Peters answer is
| the sum and substance of Christian faith:
"Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living
| God" From this time Jesus began to unfold
| his mission to the disciples, but charged them
that rs yet they should not proclaim it 1t
! was well for them TO fully master the great
fact before they undertook to teach it to
others. The fact of His divinity being thus
set forth, the succeeding lessons go ON to de-
velop the nature of his kingdom and the
method of obtaining a share in it,
First in this serial development is "The
TRANSPORTATION, discussed in the sixth les
son-thc divine approval, by messengers, OF
the truth revealed to and stated by Peter,
In modern methods of law and governments
we should say this formal surrender of
the symbols of authority by the officials of
the preceding administration. AS the Mosaic
dispensation was now at an end, Moses WAS
there to "inaugurate his successor" with
reverence tho parallel may be permittodh.
and with him Elias, who had foretold the
new while he sustained the old and had been
spared the taste of death. They confirmed
Christ's mission, and so the old dispensation
ceased forever.
In the seventh lesson--Jesus and the Little
| Ones-is the first requisite for entering the
kingdom illustrated: Except we be converted
and become as little children, ye shall moi
enter into the kingdom of heaven Following
upon the entrance into the new life comes d
: lesson (the eighth upon the first, and TO most
| people, perhaps, the hardest duty of that life
r "a Lesson ON Forgiveness 1t is not sur
prising to any man who viii look into hi.
own heart and note how anger burns Their
/ against some people TO read that when Peter
!. was told how very forgiving he Initstbe, h,
8 could only exclaim, "Lord, increase oul
: faithl" Verify a hot FLOODED man as Pete
4 showed himself to be needed to mako tina
: prayer very often in this matter of forgive
}. ness; and so does every man. Many a Chris
tian has trembled and hesitated as he cam
in his prayer to that fearful request, "For
give us our trespasses as we forgive thos
who trespass against u.s."
The duty Of charity is next taught in th
ninth lesson-The Rich Young Ruler. HI
seems TO have been an exemplary young
man as to tho works OF the law, and his state
ment shows that he was encrusted with sci
| Righteousness. But when he came to the res
& of the now dispensaton, that mere refrain
ing from evil was not enough, but no mus
'sgive up all for Christ" he could not brinl
himself to the point of making such a sacri
flee.
The principal points as TO tho inauguration
OF Christs mission being now established 4
the minds Of his disciples, we are introduce
in the truth lesson to the dark passages pre-
saying the final tragedy. Chris started o
his last journey to Jerusalem, anel taking Oh
twelve disciples apart on tho way imprcsse
on them the painful fact that lis suiferin
and death were near at hand st. MATTHEW
at this point suddenly breaks away from th
W direct narration and inserts the episode {
the mother of Zebedee's child, probably
teach Us that even then the disciples had br
faint conception OF the new kingdon
There was Indignation at the request o. Il
l. mother that her two sons should have n
so chief places, and Christ seizcs the occasic
to impress once more ON theis minds Il
great fact that his was not an earthly kin
20 dom, and on this earth ,hey were 10 expo
suffering.
4: In the eleventh lesson-Christ cnterir
JerusalenS-we have a curious illustration
the ale charaster of multitudes. They can
shouting hosannas; but little later, wh'
Christ had impressed on them that he was
have nothing to do with their schemes e
- earthly candeur, they rejoiecd in his ARE
and cried Cruelty hhnp heparnble in q
twelfth lesson, aud its scornful reception |
the priests, shows clearly that every day
Clrist's teaching in Jerusalem had great
y. 70 increased the priestly hatred against hin
w. and a little later We see how they had /
fected the body Of the people with their fec
inas. The evangelist does not detail u
changes Of opinion, bat gives us just enous
20 show how rapid they were. The quarter
series ends with intimations OF tbs chang
and the next viii introduce US to the ciosir