The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1890-08-29
The SUNDAY SCHOOL.
SERIOUS SUBJECTS CAREFULLY
CONSIDERED.

/ EsEAuO lCSSOH LOT SunOaY: AUGUST 0ll NAV NA
found in Luke 10; 1890:
INTRODUCTORY.
Here are two illustrations of the one prin-
c1ple OF trust, tho incident Of the children
and the story of the rich young man. For
old and young, babes in Christ and we'll
statured Christians, the one standpoint Of
acceptance with God Is thoroughness Of
self-surrender and completeness of trust.
That plait-spoheh prophet, Sam Jones, al
luding particularly to repentance, gives us
q word In season here: "When I was d lit
tie boy at my mothers knee, learning the
Q, ana then and by sample lots,
ana my mother finally said, You know
your letters, my boy; now you can begin to
spell round l could not even spell
Baker without the alphabet. When moth
er said, Get your First Reader I said,
.Good-6y, A Cs; now I'm done with you
forever But I found that from the first
page to the very last they were all covered
with AB C's. 30 from the beginning on un-
til q man graduates he deals all the time
with the alphabet; and even his very diplo-
ma is written in the alphabet"
WHAT THE LESSON SAYS.
And. This Scripture follows Immediately
upon the parable Of the Pharisee and the
publican in the temple.-Infants. Babes,
simply. See luke 2: IL, aye shall find the
babe wrapped in swaddling clothes;" same
word.---Touch them. For blessing. See
NoSut i"'--hls u1SCipleSs VOC 50 nluCl
disciples. learners now, as they might be-
them. As the multitude did to the
blind man at Jericho. as: 30.)
Called them. That is, summoned them
Tor a quiet word OF cohfscl.-Sufer little
children. To put no hindrance in the way.
He is speaking now especially OF those who
are capable of choice: not the same word as
In '. Is. Doubtless the groups about him
included various ages.-Forbld them not.
Children who wished to come to him were
not to be hindered. AS for the babes whom
the parents brought no advice is given,
though the implication is that, for the end
sought Christ's prayer and blessing, they
too were to come unchecked. So ought all
parents, In prayer to Christ, to-day.-Of
such is the kingdom. Rather, to such be-
trustfully childlike. 'The kingdom" here
doubtless refers to that spiritual reign of
God in the soul that Jesus came to estab-
1ish.
Followed thee. Peter gets q swift and
sure glimpse OF Christ's meaning here.
Manifold more. Present reward.-Life
everlasting. Future award.
Verify | say unto you. introducing an
important statement.-Receive the king
dom. 1t Is not to be taken as earned, but
rather received as a gift. See John 1: 12.
AS n little child, |. G., so far as the re-
another matter. OF this the parable OF
the pounds will presently tell us.-In no.
wise enter. Christ the only way. Acts 4: IL.
"A certain ruler. Probably the head man
OF one of the synagogues. Matthew calls
him a young man. 90: 2o).-Asked him.
shall do? Specially accented. Literally,
doing what?-Inherit. To acquire by lot.
Used here in much OF the sense of work.
Righteousness. See Matthews account here.
Why callest thou me good? Since he had
simply acknowledged Christ rs teacher, like
| the worlds pratUifOnS commitments Tho
term good was not to be applied to rab-
bis.-None is good, save one. Good, par
excellence, in the sense Of the term as then
used.-That is, God. Or simply, God.
why did not the young man loyalty say,
"And thou art God"
who then can be saved? Evidently the
disciples gave it this meaning; the assertion
OF human inability.
Impossible with men. Interpreting v. 25.
Christ is speaking not simply of the difficult
but the humanity MISUNDERSTANDING
with God. Teaching the same thing as the
follow me above ". 22), the necessity of
help from without and above.
Left home. The sel%f-dcnials variously in
cident to true Christian loyalty in every
age.-For the kingdom Of Gods sake. The
ruling motive.
WHAT THE LESSON TEACHES.
Infants, that he would touch them. And
he has touched them. The touch of Christ's
blood avails for all infanthood. Away with
that !np!ous notion OF elect infantsi The
little ones are not received for their parents
sake, or on any other grounds than Christ's
sacrifice in their particular behalf. The
atonement is too great and serious a matter
to permit OF the entrance Of this weak
human nature III any aspect saw as sup
plant, and the helpless child itself supplies
that. God must do all the rest. crosse
Porter says some good things, but surely
she IS forgetting herself when she SAYS,
"When my father and mother offered me to
the Savior. as he had babe them do, he,
the dear Christ, took me for his own"
What, then, of the neighbor's child? What,
then, of herself before chriStening? Be
reasonable. II Christ's blood avails for the
babies, it awaited as soon as shed.
Suffer the little children to como unto me,
and forbid them not. Alas, that there
should be on the part Of the church such a
hesitancy to receive child faith. More than
one pastor has had this experience of late,
that he has seen the little children OF the
Sunday school or mission band far in adj
vance Of their parents in point Of spiritual
mindedncss and Christian devotedness, and
that, too, although the latter be called
church-members. Thu next great reform
ought to be Il reform at this point. Parents
should encourages children's conversions In
stead Of standing coldly in the way, as so
many are doing. TIL organization of pas
tors classes with a distinct evangelistic
purpose in view is a plan finding favor in
many localities. The little ones are ready;
certainly Christ is ready to receive them.
The only question is. are the pastors, are
parents ready2-
Yet lackest thou one thing. But it was a
great thing. So large was it that to make
up for 1t he needed to sacrifice all that he
already professed to have in order to secure
1t. Let us see about this one thing. In the
young mans inventory of stock he could, as
he thought, plead a punctilious life. More
over he was a ruler and doubtless well-to-
I 1o Nnu, hl,< o-o H. l.;
Yet see what it costs. You ave riches?
Yes. Throw them In. Not all Of them?
Yes, every farthing. "Sell ALL" What else
has this young man? A fawless record.
Throw that in, too. What, give up the
credit of a life lived so long ~scrupulously
and piously7 Yes, leave that behind. In
fact, give up everything, and "Come, follow
me- To lack SO much was to lack a good
deal. In fact, the very things he possessed,
since his heart was averse, were an added
hindrance to his s~ecurement Of the prize OF
eternal life. "He was very rich" He was
very, very poor!
Possible with God. AS mans extremity is
Gods opportunity, SO mans liabilities mark
Gods abilities. What man cannot do God
can. This does not mean that God is able
to save a man in spite of his dependence
p o his riches. That is just as impossible
with God as with man, since 1t is an impos-
sibtlity connected with the very nature of
things. The reference here is to the more
immediate question, "Who, then, can be
saved?" The implied answer is, a. for
that, no one can be saved of himself. But
what man cannot do God can" That's, tho
new birth is a change too great and grave to
be accomplished by any power short Of Del
ty. Man must yield up all he has, and yet
that does not effect the change. After the
whole of mans powers nav been submitted
and surrendered, then infinite and almighty
power must work., and only after Gods
hand has been stretched forth is salvation
wrought. "This Is the Lords doing and it
is marvellous in our eyes,"
In this present time. The worth of Chris
t1an living is largely a thing of the present.
Christ came not simply to offer heavenly
riches but to redeem the present life. A
large part OF the Christians reward is in
the life that now is. Men may well be
urged to live Christly lives, If. only for the
sake OF the better world that might be made
here and now. An English minister urges
that we should not tell a man no needs re-
ligton because he may have to die to-nor-
row, but because the probability is he will
have to live many a year longer" ..Prom-
| Use Of life that now is and of that which Ia