Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1890-09-26

LESSON XIII, THIRD QUARTER, IN
TERNATlONAL SERIES, SEPT. %.

of Dives?-The Personality of ST. Luke
The teachings comprised in the twelve
lessons preceding are so many, varied and
important that a specific review, or even
satisfactory mention of each principle ad-
vauced, is manifestly impossible. a few
salient points, however, should be noted:
The development of Christian doctrines;
the fact that these lessons deal chiefly with
teaching and very little with personal his
tory, and especially the instances given il
Illustrating the reasons why men do not &C
cept the gospel and order their lives in &C
cordance Herewith. In the cases of those
hidden to the supper, one was kept away
by his wife, and another by his oxen; one
by an unreasonable fondness, and another
by mere love of property.
Again, in the case of the wealthy young
man we have a very peculiar and affecting
instance. The text plainly shows that he
was youth of much nobility of character,
and another evangelist adds that Jesus
loved him. He was no doubt lone of the
most popular men of our community" as
the modern phrase has it, and yet he had not
abused his wealth or popularity, for he was
chaste, temperate and just. And yet even
he failed to accept Christine had too much
money, or at any rate thought too much
of it.
Other characters are the greedy rich
man, the lazy and voluptuous man, the
merely Indifferent man, and finally Dives,
against whom no serious allegation is
made-he seems to have been what some
call "a downright good fellow" "a jolly
dog" eating and drinking and having a
good time" "never bothering his head
about reforming the world" but letting
each fellow look out for himself"
And on him a special condemnation falls
and what IA fearful condemnation! Out
of all who rejected Christ, recorded in
the quarters lessons, he alone is followed
beyond the grave and selected as an in
stance of final and complete reprobation.
Not the murderer, not the extortioner, not
even the impenitent thief-simply the man
who had drifted along and enjoyed him
self and never inquired about the sick and
Borrowing. Are we at liberty to conclude
that the state of society in the Roman EN-
pire at that time and the luxury then be-
ginning among the wealthy were consid-
cred in this parallel And surely there
never was time when the lesson was so
applicable rs now; for there never was a
time in the worlds history when 80 many
great fortunes were so suddenly acquired
Us in the United States in this generation
wealthy so great as now. Wealth is not
sinful; but as to life of mere enjoyment
Christ has given us the divine view in His
account of Dives. OF all the sinners men
toned during the quarters lessons Dives
Is selected as the utterly hopeless case.
1t should also be specially noted that the
work of the last quarter is practically a
study of Luke's gospel; the student should,
therefore, as occasion serves examine the
authorities as to Luke. Here it is suffi-
cient to state that he was physician and
man of learning, a companion for some
time of St. Paul and author of the ACTS
of the Apostles" Other facts of his life
are not clearly proved, but the primitive
Christians received by general tradition
the statement that he was a native of An.
tioch, Il Greek by blood rather than IA Jew,
or mt any rate, of Greek rearing and cult
ure, one of the earliest converts and very
careful and diligent student of all things
connec: / with the earthly life of Christ
The style of his writing shows that he had
the Historical sense" very well developed
The first mention of this gospel is alleged
to be by Clement of Rome, about the veal
100; and it is spoken of as a work already
generally known to Christians and accepted
as authority. For these and many othel
reasons the best Judgment is that Luke
wrote his gospel not long before the de
struction of Jerusalem, and with the as
sistance of St. Paul. Tradition adds tina,
he died natural death at the age of 81
after preaching in various countries A,
to the style of Luke it should be noted that
he is careful to fix the time of each import
ant event by mentioning the rulers il
power at the time. The construction il
artistic: First is the address to Theophilu.
and citation of authorities, then the ad
vent of John the Baptist and events in his
toric order to the beginning of Christi
ministry, and then the development of doc
trines and lessons in regular order.
The quarter now closing opens with al
impressive lesson on the proper use of TIN
Sabbath; it is not to be kept by mere rigi,
Journalism, as the Pharisees kept it, bu
with a joyous devotion. The old Jewisl
; Sabbath is done away with. The parabl
of the supper follows, and here, as in man,
other places in Luke the fact is emphasize,
q that those who held rule among the Jews
with very rare exceptions had no welcom
for Jesus. The beginning of a Christian
, life-"taking up the cross"-the finding O
the lost sheep and the lost piece of none
and the prodigal son as an example of for
giveness follow as regular chapters in
; serial discourse upon the work of grace
The parable of Dives and Lazarus is tn
most vivid picture of the life beyond tn
grave given in Christ's teachings, and ar
propriately closes this division of thi
) gospel.
The miracle of the ten lepers, the parabl
}. of the widow who prevailed by prayer an
l. the contrasted prayers of the Pharisee an
. publican logically come together as col
J. tanning our Lords teaching on the powe
3 of prayer in healing for the soul. Othe
parallels and incidents follow, each Intro
ducing an important principle of the Chris
tian faith, and the quarter closes with al
. other and most emphatic lesson upon tn
hostility of the chief priests and the scribe.
The student curious upon such matter
j should consult some of the recent discus
sions on the prophecy concerning the d,
struction of Jerusalem, and especially tn
question lately debated with some heat a
to whether St. Luke recorded the prophec
n before or after its fulfillment. AS the cit
III was destroyed in A ID. 70, and as Luke wa
, travelling with St Paul as late as 81 lin tn