The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1889-05-11
TIE AMOUNTING.
International Sunday School Lesson fol
May IL, 1889.
lSpeeially arranged from S. S. Quarterly.l

CENTRAL TRUTu-The blessedness of max
Ing sacrifices for Christ.
TIME-The plotting to take Christ Tvs. l, q
was Tuesday evening, April 4, A. ID. 30
| The supper ut Bethany was on the previous
Saturday evening (at the close OF the Jew
lsh Sabbath) John l2:D.
PLACE-The plotting was at Caiaphas
palace in Jerusalem; the supper, at Beth
| any--a suburban village two miles easl
of Jerusalem, over the Mount of Olives.
PARALLEL ACCoUNTs--Matt. 26:l-l3; John
| l2I-S.
INTRopUCTIoN-Th first two verses give
| an account of what the Jewish rulers were
doing at the time Jesus was discoursing tc
! His disciples (our last two lessons). The
story of the supper at Bethany is given
| here, because Jesus reproof at that time
was one of the reasons which led 10 the be
trayal by Judas, the account of which fol
lows.
HELPS OVER HARD PLACEs-l. Take Him
put Him 10 death: they would get Hin
into their power, and keep Him from teach
| ing any more, but wait till after the feast
| before they killed Him. 2 An uprOar: there
were multitudes there from Galilee attend
ing the feast. They might be friends OF
| Jesus. 3. Simon the lepcr: a relative Of Lag
arus, and probably cured by Jesus. A rom
an: Mary the sister of Lazarus mot the one
spoken OF in Luke Z: $500. Boz: flask
with long neck Ointment Of spikendrd: o
| pound of IT, says John. 1t was made of the
spikenard, plant Of the valerian family,
| which grows in the East. Very precious.
worth three hundred pence "a penny, dena'
rius-fifteen cents), therefore worth $45 ; but
as penny was the pay for days labor
Matt. 20: o., it would equal $500 in our day,
| Poured IL on His head. and also His feet, and
wiped them with her hair John IL: -. And
some: Judas most of all John 10 ~. 5. Gluen
TO The poor: that was his pretence, but John
| says he was thief. And he betrayed his
! Master soon after for SIG 6. Good rork. il
is good to express love. Ii leads to more
| giving to the poor. g. A memorial not SC
much of her gift as of the love which
| prompted IT,
| EXPRESSIONS OF OUR LOVE TO JEsUs-m
Love In the heart always desires to express
itself in action, TO make sacrifices for the
loved. CO. 1t is not the largeness or the
smallness of the gifts, but the cost TO US,
| the self-sacrtice in giving, made freely and
| gladly, that measures love. (3) There is
| great value in these expressions to those
that receive them. Sympathy with the poor
| EXPIRE ssed by gifts is worth many times the
same gifts without the sympathy. There is
! great hunger in the world for expressions
| of affection; and the world would be vastly
| happier if the affection really existing be-
! tween parents and children, husbands and
wives, pastors and people, teachers and
taught, were more often and more fully eX.
pressed. az Love is increased by express,
| ing it. Scarcely any thing can awake into
conscious activity our love for Jesus so much
as making sacrifices for Him. (5) Each
| must give in his own way, and what he him
| self has. Martha gave service, and it was
accepted and recorded. Mary gave the ala
baster box Of perfume. Each did what she
could. o. Often the continuous giving Of
many Titles is more costly and more accept
able than one large gift.
MODERN APpMCATIONs-(D What God
asks of US is the gift of our hearts, the most
costly and precious gift one can make to
another. But whatsoever gives the heart,
| necessarily gives with it all other things.
| (2) God often gives us opportunities of do
ing hard things for Him, helping others to
our own WEAKNESS or suffering, resisting
temptations, speaking to others on religion.
The value Of these hard things lies in the
that costs, and so proves and increases love.
CoNMENTs-m order to draw IA practical
lesson for our scholars to-day, we must
lead them to discern the motive which
underlay the action of Mary This being
made clear, they will see that that which
gave character, or moral quality, to the out
ward act was the unseen but very real con
dition of the heart To do this will not be
Ii6i9nIt Lot tho tnDrhap coll n 70
the two markedly contrasted characters
present at the feast, viz: Mary desired to
give; Judas wanted to get Mary forgot
herself entirely; Judas never for moment
lost sight of his own interests. TO lose for
Christ's sake was to Mary joy to lose for
ChrIst's sake was to Judas a misery. Mary
was willing to lose her life for Christ's
sake, and she gained it; Judas sought to
save his life, and he lost it. The radical
difference between these two persons lay
deep down in their inward life. Actions
were but the outgrowth Of that deep spirit
ual nature, which in the one case was
Chrst-lie, and IN the other Satanic. Now,
as in Mary's case, so in ours, the most i'm
portant thing was the state of the heart.
That being right, all else would be right.
Can person be a true Christian who
ntlJutT gives any julnP 10 OF uOeS any LnlnB
for the Master' No. That piety which has
in it no spirit of glad scif-sacrifce is bogus.
The tree which puts forth neither leaves
nor fruit is dead. So the church member
who has neither the grace of hberality nor
self-sacrihce is dead. By their fruits We
shall know them. The spirit of Mary must
produce the deeds of Mary and the Chris
tan spirit in any disciple must produce
Christian living and giving. If these latter
are wanting, the former is not present,
however loud the profession may be.-Rev.
A. +. Schaufller
PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS.
l. Affection desires to express itself by
making sacrifices for the loved.
2. All need the sympathy Of others, and to
have it expressed
B. Expressing our affection increases it.
4. God does not need our gifts, but our
love, our giving-the proofs that we honor
and love Him.
5. Worldly men find fault with Christian
giving.
6. But Christ approves Of it.
z The more we give to Christ, the more
we will give to the poor.
THE world is not to be carried by apathy
Souls are not to be saved by good wishes
Christ is not tn he pnthrOnpd nv coyvards or