Daily tobacco leaf-chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1890-1895, 1890-06-20
OUR HEAVENLY FATHER.
LESSON XII, SECOND QUARTER. IN
TERNArloNAL SERIES, JUNE %.

mission Of H. s Hoffman, publisher, Philadel-
phia-l
90 "And He said unto His disciples, There
fore say unto you, Be not anxious for your
life, what ye shall eat; nor yet for your body,
what We shall put ON Or. W The previous
verse, which is the last verse of the last les
son, contrasts treasure in this world for ones
self, AMI treasure with God, which is endur-
ing. Men who live only for this world will
naturally seek treasure here; but disciples of
Christ who are no longer Of this world should
seek TO have their treasure where they be-
long. His disciples may have thought, as He
told Of the man Building larger barns in
which to store his corn, well, we shall not be
troubled that way; but the question with us
is, now that we have left all to follow Him,
what about the necessaries of life, our food
and raiment which we actually need. If these
were their thoughts He read them, and met
them with the command, ''Take no thought, -
or "Be not anxious" even for these things.
Obedience to this command would take out
of many lives about three-fourths Of all their
trouble. Then in Phil iv, 8, is the command
to be anxious about nothing, which will GER
tainly cover the other fourth, SO that there is
no permission for single anxious thought in
the life Of Christian.
28. 1.-THE life is more than meat, and the
body than raiment." When He, after fast
ing forty days, was tempted to turn stones
into bread, His reply was, "Man shall not
live by bread alone, but by every word that
proceedeth out Of the mouth of God" Matt
iv, a. And again when weary, hungry, and
thirsty, He sat on Jacobs we'll and the dis
ciples brought Him food He said II have
meat to eat that ye know not Of"
"a. Consider the ravens; God
feedeth them" In the sermon on the mount
He called their attention to birds generally;
but here He selects one kind, and that an I'M
clean bird, classed among those which God
had said were to be an abomination to Israel
Qev. xxi, 10, l5l. This is the only place where
the word is used in the New Testament In
Job xxxviii, Al; Ps. cxlvii, o, God is said to
provide for the raven its food and hear the
cry Of its young And in Kings xvii, 40,
it is this unclean bird which brings Elijah his
food morning and evening. There is surely
something very special in this command to
consider the ravens Are we not reminded
that He maketh His sun to rise on the evil
and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just
and on the unjust; and maketh the wrath of
man to praise Him Matt. v, As; lxxvi, 10).
If God cares for and can make use of even
the abominable raven, surely He will not fail
to supply the need Of those who have been
made whittier than snow by the precious blood
of His dear Son.
"Of how much more value are ye than the
birdsl" The sparrows, two of which are sold
for a farthing, or five for two farthings
Matt K, 30; Luke xii, o. are cared for by
Him; how much more will He care for those
who are bought with such price
25 Sand which of you by being anxious
can add cubit unto his stature;" Or. W Or
sage" as in the marginl To add foot and
half to ones height would certainly be
great matter; and as the next verse indicates
that what is here referred to is some small
matter, it must be that the meaning is "who
by anxious thought can add even half step
to the length of his life9" Who can with all
his care prolong his life single moment un
less God SO wills it9 Or If 1t should possibly
signify increased Importance in the eyes of
Others in this world, such as might come from
great stature, even then we must remember
that Promotion copeth neither from the
east, nor from the west, nor from the south;
but God is the Judge, He putteth down one
and setteth up another" (Ps lxxv, O..
20. "If, then, ye are not able to do that
which is least, why are ye anxious concern
ing the restP The little child resting in a
mothers love, entirely dependent on a moth
er's care for food and raiment and comfort,
not knowing enough to have an anxious
thought, not thinking Of growth or attain
ment Of any kind, is a picture Of the uncon-
Germ and rest which every child of God should
have concerning all things temporal. 1t is
hard for strong man to realize 1t, but even
the strongest physically is as dependent upon
God for everything as the little child upon
its mother. Look W; leave all to God; be
trustful and obedient, and "rejoice in the
Lord Away"
81. Consider the lilies, how they grow"
Now He directs us to the flowers painted by
His own hand, growing so quietly, SO noise
lessly, so beautifully, and He assures us that
these excel in glory all the raiment of the
wealthy Solomon. However rich and fine
and costly might be the garments of Solo
mon, they were all put on, they were not his
personal glory, but only such as any one
could obtain with the same money. The
beauty Of the lilies could not be bought with
money, it was not put on, it was from within,
the glory Of each flower was part of itself.
%. "If then God so clothe the grass
how much more will he clothe you, o ye of
little faithf' II such beauty is bestowed on
flowers which fade in an hour, surely He will
not fail to provide suitable clothing for bodies
which he will one day make just like Christs
glorious body.
80. "And seek not ye what We shall eat, or
what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubt
full mind" The margin says olive not in
of,ln 60,
every child OF God to Danish forever every
anxious thought concerning food and raj
ment, our Saviour would not so insist on
It, And when He so insists on it, how dis
honoring to God all such anxiety must be.
go "Your Father knoweth that ye have
need Of these things" Here is the ground OF
our quietness and confidence: we have
Father in Heaven, and He knoweth. The
nations Of the world who have no Father in
Heaven, all people who are Of their father the
devil, may well be anxious and careful to
provide food and raiment for themselves and
their households, but children of God by faith
In Christ Jesus should have confidence in
their Father and be at peace.
81. "But rather seek ye the Kingdom of
God; and all these things shall be added unto
you" Not only does He tell us that our
Father knows Of our need, but here is the I'M
failing promise Of Him who cannot lie, that |
Il we do the one thing here commanded, all
the temporal things we need shall be added. |
SO. Fear not little flock, for 1t is your
Fathers good pleasure to give you the King |
iom." They are to have no anxiety about |
such temporal things as food and raiment;
they are also to have no anxiety about the |
Kingdom for themselves. Their Father, |
whose children they now are, will surely see |
10 their eternal as well as temporal welfare.
50, "Sell that ye have and give aims; pro-
Vide yourselves treasure In the |
heavens that faileth not, +" ETC. There is such |
! thing as adding to our treasure in heaven.
81 "For where your treasure Is there will |
z,,,r haarA ha aiao 1he hearth of Israel |