The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1888-04-04
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
Notes on the Lesson for April
g." Christ's Last
Warning"
IRON the Chicago Standard. !

The lesson for the above date may be found
in the twenty third chapter Of Matthew, from
the twenty-seventh TO the thirty sixth verses.
DAILY READINGS.
M-The Lesson. Matt %. $3.50
IA parallel Luke IL: ADJ.
W-The truths reception. l Thess. 2: 1890
T.-Castlng out evil Deut ID: GIL.
F-Stephens accusation Ac's Z: 5l-60.
h-Jerusalem's destruction. Zech. IL.
h-Comfort for disciples. John 10: l-l6.
INTRODUCTORY.
1t is tho time OF the passover, early spring
In Palestine The streets, IN accordance
with the custom, have been newly swept the
conspicuous sopulchres freshly whtened and
garnahed. IL was good preparation for the
psssover-outwardly good But, says Christ
Look within Are you remembering in your
hearts the ceremony OF the Intel stain! And
as our Lord looks upon the proud, cruel and
hypocrtical Pharisees, he cannot but COM
pare Thorn with the decorated tombs that
stand out prominently in the background.
Beauty without-ashes within The lesson
begins with words Of woe; il ends with weep
ing. There are terrors mt the opening; there
are tears at the close Yes, and at the last
through the very tears, shines for those that
watch and wait, a rainbow ,of promise
BLESSED il he that cometh." @Amen, even so
come, Lord Jesus"
WHAT THE LESSON TEACHES.
Woe unto yoM Cut it out The Bible will
be much more largely read with these words
omitted Put 1t in the apocrypha Let us make
an expurgated edition OF the scriptures with
the "soOeS" left ont 1t will be very popular,
this Worlds Edition" of the life and sayings
OF Christ But hold Put up thy knife, Je-
hoiakim- Remember the codicil: "If any man
shall take away from the words OF the book of
this prophecy, God shall take away his part
out of the book of life!" 1t must stand And
If 1t stands, let il be preached Is it not pos
slble that We stay too long at the fore part of
the alphabet in our teaching and preaching OF
the gospel? BLESSED" comes very early, and
1t Is a long way from II TO w But IL Is there
and God assuredfy means us TO utter his
whole counsel" from Alpha TO Omega The
Sunday-schools and pulpits OF the land are
given good opportunity to-day.
Scri6eS and PhdriseeS, hUpOcTiteS. That is
the full name; fill II out to the end But, We
may be sure, 1t Is dangerous business. 1t is
much easier to stop with the first or second
I part without going into the character title IN
the third member. The most of the martyrs
lost their lives for doing no more than that
They filed out the name They told kings,
! potentates, peoples, all, just what they were
in Gods pure sight Imagine us doing it to-
day. Ny lord, the duke robber! Father
| B, wolf IN sleeps clothingi Hon. c.,
trucker and time-server Messrs. T. and f.,
murderers! Very imprudent 1t would be
called to-day, now that Huss and Knox and
Bunyan are gone. Let Rome be called by its
right name, and halls will be closed and even
Christians will hold up hands of holy horror.
And yet will the prophet of righteousness
ever lead the church TO its own, under God,
until he has walked even here, in the foot
stops of his Master? Heaven grant us to-day
gospel preached in utter truthfulnessl
Waited SeputchreS Outwardly fair, lnwardly
foul The electric light of Gods perfect truth
was thrown with merciless irradiance upon
the false Jew. So shines the light to-day, un-
covering, exposing discomfting. The legend
goes that French daguerrotypist invented
liquid solution by means of which he could
bring out the real faces of the persons who
sat for pictures. He took the natural likeness
and then, dipping the plato into his myster-
ious preparation aud exposing it to the sun
light, he was able to print the character Inca
ments OF those who came. Sometimes dull
features would turn beautiful, sometimes
face fair to look upon would change to ugli-
ness; and once the comely countenancs Of al gay
| young man was transformed into the horrd
features Of wolf If we remember Alright,
| it was he who destroyed the solution.
But wfttt1l All, yes, they had forgotte n
that Caring 80 much for the mixing and lay
ing on OF whitening for the outside they had
forgotten to put away the uncleanness within.
| II 10 q common mistake and not simply in
matters Of housekeeping. In q sort Of peri-
odical clearing up of the life, in Lenten times,
for instance. well-meaning people get no
farther than the whitewash part That was a
good strong word few weeks ago in these
columns from our Hartford friend: what
good thing shall l do that may have eternal
life? -. There! he had put the holy water
| on MS 1Oreneau, crossed fingered his
beads, gone around the church on his knees
before all the pictures joined the church,
taken holy communion, bought pew, and
said his prayer-the good thing Dds done, and
he could now go on serving the world, the
| flesh and the devil" That will pass with
some so-called teachers; but not with the
Master. What was the meaning Of his mission
to the world but new look ~wlthing"
Ye build The toD,bs. 1t is poor atonement
for murder. The state offers to take the
ftoifN atsNV thn
runs annual slaughter aud build the people
hospitals, aims houses, or perchance inebri-
ate asylums for the not Qaite dead. Modern
tomb-buildersl Take an illustration of an
other sort: Yonder we will say goes costly
funeral. 1t Is paid for, in half-hearted con-
siderateness, by sons who have worn fond
mothers life out with their evil courses. Or,
in that church there, you see a memorial win
dow, telling of pastor deceased. 1t was
placed there by parishioners, unmindful
while Gods prophet lived OF his prayers and
tears, and perhaps to-day half-indifferent to
the truths for which he gave his life o,
build and garnish character rather than
tombsl Honor the truth at once with loyal
lives. There is littlo expiration In postum
nous charity
II re had been. The words are very COM
mon. IF il had been /, II" we say, the iniq uity
would not have been committed 81 we muir
muir 10 ourselves when we think OF David and
| of Achan, or of Ananias, or Peter in denial,
or the Jew in Pilates court Stop and think.
You are making the ordinary mistake OF sup
posing that 10 sput yourself in his place" you
have only 10 transfer your lstter-day self to
those elder day circumstances. That ia
scarcely fair. The proper test is to surround
yourself with such real or imaginary associa-
tions as will bring 70 bear upon you at your
larger vantage, the same degree of trial or
temptation. Look about you now How are
you meeting the unrighteous allurements OF
your own day? How arc you responding to
the righteous calls that come? Christliness
makes it, own special appeal TO every success
i've generation We show how we would have
met the truth eighteen hundred years ago by
the way we give il audience to-day. Nine
teenth-century scorn OF Christ is first-century
murder.
Danndtion of he'll He speaks the truth.
No kindlier eyes than those, yet they could
look starnest rebuke; no gentler lips, yet
they uttered such a terrible word as this.
And was il not kindness, true gentleness?
He is always most gently kind who tells US
the truth we need 10 know. He is only more
craven than cruel who cries rs the manner Of
some is @Peace, peace, when there is no
peace" The simple truth is that for the
serpent's succession there Is no escape from
the serpent's sentence. Get out OF the gen.
erationg How Regeneration
Next Lssson-sChristian watchfnlness. {"
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