Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1890-08-22
PREVAILING PRAYER.
LESSON VIII, THIRD QUARTER, INTER-
NATIONAL SERIES, AUG. "a.


phial
l. And He spdke q parable unto them
TO this end, that men ought dlaodys to
pray, and not to faint" The Kingdom
of God and the coming of the Son Of Man
in power and glory, and the cross as the
only way to the Kingdom, were the topics
constantly in the mind and on the lips Of
the Lord Jesus. All the miracles of heal
ing were foreshadowings of the health that
shall be when the Kingdom comes, and His
discourses were full of the righteousness Of
the Kingdom.
2. There tpas In a city a Judge, phtch
feared not God, neither regarded man"
The eyes of the Lord which run to and fro
through the whole earth OH Chron. xvi, o;
Jer. xxi, 10; Zech. iv, 10y had seen many
such. He sees many sue today both in
high and low places among men.
8. And there acds a lDtdow in that city;
and she came unto him, saying, AUcnge
me of mine adversary" Many are the
widows and fatherless that in this world
are poor and oppressed, and yet God sees
and cares for each one, though He may
not always seem to. See His special rela-
ton to such in Deut. x, II, IS; Ps. xviii,
s. In Jas. i, 81, we learn that part of pure
and undefled religion before God is to visit
the fatherless and widows in their afnic-
ton.
4. "And he tUould not for q tDhtle: but
dfteraodrd he said aotthtn himself, Though
I fear not God, nor regard man."
5. "Yet because this ioido,D troubleth
me, I aUtu dUenge her, lest by her continr
udl coming she aCedry me-" No regard
for God or man, and no desire to do justly
for this oppressed and prosecuted widow,
hat e;-,,1, ~, III ,lac;ra fnr bic o,-n
sonal comfort, he will finally attend to her.
Let us ask ourselves if there is any of this
spirit in us. When we see it even in the
disciples we have cause to fear for our
selves Matt. XIV, 23). Am l doing good
works simply from a sense of duty, or to
quiet my conscience? Do | help the poor
Just to get rid of themP Is my comfort
the main thingP
6. "And the Lord said, Hear aphdt the
unjust Judge saith" What a contradic-
ton there is in these two words unjust
judge when we remember that it is writ
zen, "He that ruleth over men. must be
just, ruling in the fear of God"
Z. "And shall not God duenge HIS oapn
elect aChich cry day and night unto Him,
though He bear long Dith hcm9" The
word "~elect" in Scripture refers sometimes
to the believing remnant of Israel lisa. ky,
), 22); sometimes to the church gathered
out of Jews and Gentiles (Rom. viii, 80:
Col. iii, ~, and sometimes to Christ Him
self lisa. xiii, y. Inasmuch as in the Cos
pels Christ is dealing only with Israel Matt,
x, 5, 6; XIV, 24, with but a hint here and
there of the church Matt. xvi, IS; John x,
10y, He must refer here to the elect of Is
rael as in Matt. xiv, %.
8. 81 tell you that He ,Utl duengc them
speedily" When Jesus came in His humil-
iation as a servant to suffer and die, He
read from the prophecy of Isaiah concern
ing the acceptable year of the Lord; and
He closed the Book. When He comes again
to Israel it will be to fulfill the next sem
fences, which He did not read that day.
Nevertheless, Whcn the Son of Man
comcth, SHAH He find faith on the edrth2"
The time when the Son of Man shall come
in power, and great glory Matt. xiv, 80;
XVI, CA is the time when He will avenge
speedily; and this question implies that at
that time the faithful emnant in Israel
will be very few in number. In fact He
tells us in Matt. xiv, 81, %, that the tribu-
, lation of those days just before His return
! shall be so great that it shall be shortened
for the elects sake.
0. And He spdke this parable unto Ger
tain Which trusted in themselves that then
Utft tjftttoUo w utoDtotb OCfttIo wv
shall now learn who constitute the true
elect, and whether they are the elect rem
nant of Israel or the elect church, the same
spirit is necessary in each.
10. "TlCO men lCcnt up into the temple tC
Pray the M q PhariSee and the other Il
publican" Outwardly the two are alike
in this, that they both go to the temple
and they both go to pray.
IL. The PhdriSee stood and prayed
thus 1Oith himself" He trusted in himsel.
!. yer. 81 and prayed with himself. 1t was
self all the way through with him, and il
his own eyes he was A No. l. He knew
nothing of Paul's motto. mot L. but
Christ"
. "God / thank thee that am not as othel
men, ertOrtioners, unjust, adulterers, OF
epen as this publican" Thu man did no
c think that his prayer would be reported
e and handed down to posterity as a speci
men of self righteousness, any more than
we think that we must give account of GU
words. But let one of mans latest inven
tons, the monograph, remind us how
easily God can record all our words an,
even our thoughts.
IL. 81 fast tWice in the Week, / glue 1.-THE
of all that Ipossess." The law of Nose
required but one fast in the year Qev
: xiii, 27-29). During the seventy years
9 captivity, however, they had four yearl!
fasts Czech. viii, l9), but this man with hi
two a week was away ahead of all require
ments; he was very religious. And theI
he gave a tenth of all to religious purposes
and according to Nal iii, 10, that was tn
}, right thing to do. He does look ike a goot
man. But observe, he only prayed witt
IS himself; he did not ask for a single thing.
ID. "And the publican, standing ala