The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1893-05-31
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LESSON x, SECOND QUARTER, INTER-
NATIONAL SERIES, JUNE4.


Text OF the Lesson, Feel. v. I-I2-Mem-
DRY Verses, L, Golden Text, Rom.
xii, I1-Commentary by the Rev. ID. NJ.
SteaIns.
This is the book and mirror of the natural
man. The thread of the book is the ex-
preston, Under the sum- which is found
In it more than 25 times. Its conclusion,
Fear God and keep His commandments
has in IL no redemptive power, but prepares
the way for the Redeemer from above the
sun, who alone can make all things new''
CIV. j. Erdman). The life of Ecclesiastes
compared with that of the Song of Solomon
Is like the seventh of Romans compared
with the eighth. 1t is the fruitless effort
to do good and be good apart from Him
who alone is good. In all the times of
chapter III, Is, there is no time to pray"
l. keep thy foot when thou goest to the
house of God and be more ready to hear
than to give the sacrifice of fools, for they
consider not that they do evil" Our
feet may take us to the house of God, but
unless our hearts are right with God we
shall be as fools The life Of Christian is
in the New Testament compared to a walk
We are TO walk worthy of our vocation,
walk in love, walk as children of light,
walk circumspectly (Eph. iv, 1; V, 2, s, 15).
2. ''Be not rash with thy mouth and let
not thine heart be hasty to utter anything
before God for God is in heaven and thou
upon earth. Therefore let thy words be
few" Not only do our feet need keeping,
but also our mouths Uevid's resolution
was good one, II said l will take heed to
my ways that | sin not with my tongue"
Ops xxx, y His prayer is always APP
propriate, 'Set watch, o Lord, before my
mouth; keep the door Of my lips" Cps cxli,
g. How can we order our words Alright be-
fore God? know of no way good as being
filled with His words See how in Hos xiv,
2, He puts the very words in our mouths
which He would have us say. And there
are prayers throughout the Psalms suitable
to every possible occasion.
g. For a dream cometh through the
multitude of business, and a FOOLS voice is
known by multitude of words" There are
dreams from above the sun-from God him.
self-of which many are accorded in Scrip
ture, but ordinary dreams are from worldly
cares As TO a multitude of words, we are
told that in such there wanteth not sin
prov. X, 49, and this may be true even of
some prayers we know about which occupy
anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes or more.
Contrast with such waste of words and
time the prayer of our Lord in John xvii,
not over five minutes in length
4. When thou vowest a vow unto God,
defer not to pay it, for He hath no pleasure
in fools Pay that which thou hast vowed"
Compare with this ver-s Mum. xxx, 2;
Deut. xiii, 2l-23; Ps. Xvi, Is, IA, and be
careful how you make promises to God He
is the faithful promiser q Cor i, Q; X, 10; 1
Thess v, "a; IL Thess iii, 8; Heb. X, 23), and
our part is to trust Him, cOnfide in Him,
for all His promises are in Christ, yea and
amen Gil Cor. i, 20l.
5 Better is it that thou shouldest not
vow than that thou shouldest VOW and not
pay" because that would be simply lying,
and neither deceit nor lies can dwell in
Gods sight ops. ci, y. Some people called
Christians think it all right to make prom
ises to their fellows which they have neither
ability nor intention to meet We would
commend TO such the last clause of Rev.
xxi, S. All liars shall have their part in
the lake which burneth with fire and brim-
stone
8 Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy
flesh to sin One member Of the body may
cause another member or even the whole
body to suffer We know this TO be true
physically. IL is also true spiritually See
i IL,
would be more careful of others feelings
and watch lest we should thoughtlessly
cause another 70 suffer.
Z For in the multitude of dreams and
many words there are also divers vani-
ties but fear thou God" God said to
Abram, 81 am the Almighty God; walk
before Me and be thou perfect"-margin,
upright or sincere-(Gen. xvii, D. Jesus
says to US, 10, | am with you always"
(Math. xviii, 20l. This fact believed is
the greatest possible corrective of ones life
if we think of Him as the One who so loved
us that He gave Himself for us. Then His
love will constrain US to love what He loves
and to avoid what he dislikes.
s. HE that is higher than the highest re-
gardeth, and there be higher than they"
Oppression of the poor and perversion of
justice are among the perplexing things of
life even to this day. But it is very old
story. David, Asaph and jeremiah were
all disturbed by these things Ops. xxxvii, l,
2; lxxiii, 3; Jer. xii, y, but light is found
in the context of each passage, and this
verse of our lesson assures us that God
does see and care. Our need is faith and
patience Heb. x, SO. 81; Rev. xiii, 10; xiv.
~. The finished story will make all clear.
O. Moreover, the profit of the earth is
for all; the king himself is served by the
field" Nothing lives unto itself; all things
exist for the good of all; even the king
with all his wealth has to depend upon the
produce of the field. No one can truly talk
of being independent. The God in whose
hand our breath is, and whose are all our
ways in whom we live and move and have
our being dan. V, %; Acts xvii, PSI, will
require an account from us for these things.
10 HE that loveth silver shall not be
satisfied with silver, nor he that lOveth
abundance with increase. This is also
vanity" The king who could make silver
to be as plentiful stones q Kings X, 30
was qualified to speak upon this subject.
A greater than Solomon has advised us
that we should lay up treasure in heaven,
and by His Spirit has taught us that the
love of money is the root of all evil (Math.
vi, 1921; 1 Tim. vi, 10). Nothing under
the sun can satisfy the human soul, but it
Is written, my people shall be satisfied
with My goodness, saith the Lord" Ger.
xxi, l4).
IL. when goods increase, they are in
creased that eat them" To possess and en-
Joy is worth while, but to possess merely
for the sake of gazing upon is surely van
ity, and yet take out of most lives all that
Is not truly profitable, and how very little
of earth's goods will be left as the portion
which gives satisfaction? Nothing under
the sun can satisfy the eye nor fill the ear
tchapter i, s., but let us behold our Creator
and Redeemer in the person of Jesus
Christ, and He will be to us the chiefest
among 1O,000-yes, altogether lovely Song
v, 10, 16).
IL. THE sleeD of a laboring man is sweet