The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1893-06-07
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LESSON Xl, SECOND QUARTER, INTER-
NATIONAL SERIES, JUNE II.

Memory Verses Is, IA Golden Text,
Feel. xii, documentary by the Rev. ID.
NJ. Stearns.
/. Remember now thy Creator in tho
days Of thy youth, while the evil days come
not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou
shalt say, have no pleasure in them" In the
last two verses of the pgvious chapter the
young man is warned that there is iudg-
ment TO come, in the light of which all
present things should be tested, and now
he is entreated to think of his Creator in
the days of his youth and strength and to
consider Him who is the givGr OF every good
and perfect gift. Let Samuel, David, JoaSh
and Josiah be studied as examples.
2. while the sun. or the light, or the
moon, or the stars be not !darkened, nor the
clouds return after the rain" This is sug-
gestive of days of Judgment, as in Isa xiii,
To- Math. xiv, %; Rev. vii, II; Jer. xiii,
10, for those who persistGhtly refuse the
mercy of God. But the content seems
rather to indicate the time of old age, when
the senses become dull, and with no light
from heaven in the soul the condition of
such one is dark and gloomy indeed.
Listen to old Barzillai when invited by
King David to make his home with the
score years old, and can / discern between
good and evil? Can thy servant taste what
l eat or what l drink? Can / hear any
more the voice Of singing men and singing
women? Wherefore, then, should thy serv-
ant be yet a burden unto my lord the
king" Gil Sam. -, 80? Barzillai was
doubtless good man, vet be simply de
scribes the ordinary failures of the body in
old age.
3. I'm the day when the keepers of the
house shall tremble, and the strong men
shall bow themselves, and the grinders
cease because they are few, and those that
look out of the windows be darkened."
This is suggestive Of the failure of hands
and arms, feet and legs, teeth and eyes,
The earthly house begins to decay, failure
is evident in every part, and if there is no
light shining from above the sun it is a
dreary picture. But listen to Caleb, the
friend and companion of Joshua, each of
whom wholly followed the Lord: 10, l
am this day fourscore and five years old
AS yet l am strong this day as / was in
the day that Moses sent me. As my strength
was then, even so is my strength now for
war, both to 90 out and to come in" Josh
xiv, 10, ID.
4. And the doors shall be shut in the
streets when the sound of the grinding is
low, and be shall rise up at thu voice of the
bird, and all the daughters OF music shall
be brought low" Suggestive of lips clos
ing in upon tootbless gums, inability TO
sleep and failure of the voice Comment
seems unnecessary; rather consider the pos
sibilities of an old age in the fear of God
Think of Moses, of whom it is written that
at the age 100 his eye was not dim nor his
natural force abated. At that age he
walked up the mountain alone and went
out to be with God, and 400 years later
we find him alive and well Deut. xxxiv, Z;
Math. xvii, 81.
.. Also when they shall be afraid of
that which is high. and fears shall be in
the way, and the almond tree shall flourish,
and the grasshOpper shall be a burden, and
desire shall fail because man goeth to his
long home and the mourners go about the
streets" This is probably suggestive of
the easily terrified old person TO whom
everything is a burden and nothing is salts
flying. The almond tree may suggest the
white head of old age, and the grave is
spoken of as the long home. Under the
sun" is still the key, for the rejoicing be-
lever anticipates no long home in the
grave, but with Christ in paradise, (" lab
sent from the body, present with the
Lord" duke xiii, 43; II Cor. v, s..
6. ''Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or
the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher
be broken at the fountain, or the wheel
broken at the cistern." Possibly the refer
ence here may be to the spinal cord and
whole nervous system, the brain, the heart,
with its veins and arteries. However much
or little the writer may have known about
these things, the Holy Spirit who wrote
IL.
Dob xxxvi, A..
Z. 'Then shall the dust return to the
earth as it was, and the spirit shall re-
turn unto God who gave it." God said to
Adam, "Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt
thou return" And the psalmist wrote
concerning vain man, His breath goeth
forth; he returneth to his earth; in that
very day his thoughts perish" (Gen. iii, 10;
Ps cxlvi, A.. Through Jesus the last
Adam, the second man, we learn of victory
over death and of the fact that many shall
never die. I'VE shall not all sleep, but we
shall all be changed in a moment, in the
twinkling of an eye, mt the last trump, for
the trumpet shall sound, and the dead
shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall
be changed" q Cor. XIV, As, ~, 81, So See
also Thess. iv, l6-lS. And in contrast TO
this whole dreary picture of frail old age,
with no light from heaven, listen to this
contrast, Though our outward man per-
ish, yet the inward man is renewed day by
day" BY receiving Him who became
man and a sin Offering for US we may be
sure of an endless life and eternal youth.
10. Let us hear the conclusion of the
whole matter Fear God and keep His
commandments, for this is the whole duty
of man" But inasmuch as no mere man,
since Adam fell, ever kept the command
ments of God there is little comfort here.
"Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and
yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all"
JAS ii, lO) And it is written that the law
was given to condemn man and prove to
man his helplessness, that he might be led
to receive Him who is the fulfllment of the
law and the end of the laJ for righteous
ness to every one that believeth (Rom. iii,
10, 20; Y, 4; Gal. H. 81; iii, 81, ~. The Lord
Jesus Christ is the only man who has ever
done the whole duty of man. He was made
sin for us that we might be made the right
eousness of God in Him Gil Cor. V, 21). Re
ceiving Him. He becomes our life and right
eousness John 1, 70; John V, u; Col. iii, 4;
Cor. i, 3d. and His love constraining us
we live henceforth unto Him, rejoicing in
hope of the glory of God Oh Cor. V, IA, Is;
Rom V, ], p.
H. For God shall bring every work into
Judgment, with every secret thing, whether
it be good or whether it be evil" If we
are in Christ we can rejoice that the judg-
ment for our sins is past, and they shall be
remembered no more John V, "a; Rom. viii,
/; lisa. xiii, 80. Every believer will, how,