Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1893-01-05


found In Ezra 3: 1-13.
INTRODUCTORY.
With this lesson we find the loyal
remnant back on the Holy Hills and
engaged In re-erecting the walls and
affairs that were fallen down. Fifty
thousand exlles. under the lead Of Ze-
rubbabel, take the long journey Of five
hundred miles, across the sands, from
Babylon to Jerusalem, and here at last
they are In the midst OF lions desola-
tion. The spiritual leader is Joshua. or
Joshua, who sets to work at once--a
good place to begln-to building the al
tar Of the God OF Israel The people
fall to, fear helping them on, all giving
OF their means, and presently rejoice
ing company are thronging about the
foundations OF new temple. 1t lie
stirring scene, and full Of helpful inti-
nations for good living in the days that
now are.
POINTS IN THE LESSON,
Then stood up Joshua"-he could not
help 1t! If you have a man by that
name among you, a Joshua, deliverer,
you cannot keep him down. Nor can
devils, thank God i
The great high priest, the Joshua
who goes before for the lifting up Of a
| demolished temple and dismantled
altar, Is Jesus. 1t Is of him that James
| Is speaking at Acts Is: 16: After this
will return, and will build again the
tabernacle of David which Is fallen
down: and will build again the ruins
thereof, and will set 1t up" Jesus is
the great temple-mender, and wherever,
there Is a soul awry he stands ready to
do his gracious work. May he do it
more than once or twice in these classes
| to-day.
Keep the feasts. In their spiritual
intent they never were abrogated.
Tabernacle means mingled thanksgiv-
ing and devotion. Why should 1t ever
be intermitted or slighted2 Observe
the set feasts," or, as the Hebrew
says, the feasts appointed. Gods Or
dinances. Gods Sabbath OF rest, can
1t be discarded with impunity? The as
sembling OF ourselves together. Who
has ever persistently neglected such
| things without suffering and spiritual
loss, and temporal as we'll? Guard,
also, the ordinances Of baptism and the
| Lords Supper. We shall never find q
better way to secure growth and prog
ress in. the kingdom than Gods own
appointed way. But, above all things,
keep the continual burnt Offering"
following more closely the burnt offer
ing OF continuance, the gift most needed
In the church to-day. Every day piety,
unintermittent devotion, the free-will
Offering of a life-this, Paul calls our
reasonable service.
| Then come songs. And what better
defnition)of the inner import OF sacred
song or of congregational music than
this where "the people could not dis
| Germ the noise of the shout of Joy from
the noise Of the weeping Of the people.
| When the great congregation lifts it's
voice, like the, sound of many waters,
who can distinguish the heart cries,
| and behind and within the volume of
sound how many breaking heart wells
forth"in the midst OF the exultations2
Indeed, all music is a sweet sorrow,
and no true melody but has its tears.
And here, too, is the genesis OF real
music, a lesson in Christian psalmody.
| Strive and sing, work and worship.
They praised the Lord because the
| foundation of the house of the Lord was
| laid. III you want a spur to song, do
something; to love God, obey him; to
know how to praise him, learn how to
do his bidding. So shall we come into
his presence with a song.
| Thank Heaven for an altar easily
reared. 1t has its natural foundations,
and it Is readily set upon its bases
Abraham, the friend of God. set it up.
wherever he went. There is some diff
Guilty, no doubt, In establishing certain
man made forms of worship. The ritual
and the rubric are often far-fetched.
But for that simple worship which
Christ called "in spirit and In truth,
the conditions are always present.
| Aye, for Gods altar the whole earth
seems poised on its axes, and gravita-
A L.. l.. 80 t,Az
| tendants of Gods worship.
Set it up at once, this some time neg
lected altar OF God. Wait no longer.
The wood and stone are here-and the
Lamb. You are here, and God is here;
that is enough. Wherever there Is a
| sinner and a Savior, there Is an oppor-
tunity for altar worship, and right there
may be the beginning Of house Eek
ceeding magical. And let it all be
"as it Is written in the law of Moses,
the man OF Cod" according to the pat
tern in the mount. And what was that
essential pattern? Simply this-self-
surrender. What else does the burnt
offering mean for us? Thine affairs, D
Lord of hosts!"
HINTS AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
1t ID remarkable what an aid to the
incubation of Bible lessons Is to be
found in Christian song. 1t helped out
these early builders OF the temple amaz-
ingly, and 1t will assist, in no small de-
gree, modern temple builders. Mako
much OF it. 1t Is very poor song-book
that has not a number Of suggestive
hymns upon the spiritual theme of this
lesson, |. O., Christian edification. Sing
two or three songs at the outset like
ITO the work, to the work, We're
marching to Zion. And what better
hymn to close with than good, old How
firm foundationl"
Song seems to lift itself naturally to
God. The sermon may be unsound, but
the song Is usually orthodox. 1t praises
God, not man. 1t lays everything where
1t belOngs-at Jesus feet. They tell OF
Christian woman dying, who. beckon-
ing and family articulating, seemed to
be asking the attendants to bring her
something. They brought food and drink
ana other things, but she was evidently
not satisfied. At last they put tablet
In her hand, and then with pencil she
traced the words, which, however faint,
read always large and strong:
Bring forth the roy al diadep1,
And crown him Lord OF all
Back Of all was prayer. Daniels
supplication In his wonderful ninth
chapter is not to be left out Of the ac-
count. The thames Of old England de-
manded that the son OF Lady Alice
should give them the lands of his father.
Said they: I'VE can fight the Kings
foes, but what can that little boy dor"
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