The Progress. (Shreveport, La.) 1892-1900, 1893-03-18
QUARTERLY REVIEW.
LESSON KIN, FIRST QUARTER, INTER-
NATIONAL SERIES, MARCH 26.

. Com,rcbeu.ixe ReyIsw Of the Lesson
Of tho characterization Text. rs c'i'
Commentary by the Rev. ~.
stesrn-.
LESSON Home from Babylon (Ez.
1-iD. Golden text ODeut. XXX. ~, IN
Lord thy God will turn thy captivity, AM
! have compassion upon thee" The gut
and calling of God are without repentance
| from. XII. 2ql. whatsoever He purposes shal
in due time be accomplished, and every
thing shall come To pass exactly rs lie say
! lisa. xiv, ~: Ps xxxiii. ~. He doeth nc
! cording to His will i'm heaven and on earth
and finds willing servants. both among
! men and angels dan. iv. RI. The rebuild
! ing Of the temple is suggestive of the tenn
! pie now being built, the church Of God
| (Eph il, 1920.
Lesson II The Temple Begun (Ez. iii.
| LID Golden text IN. III, ~, They
praised the Lord. because the foundation
Of the house Of the Lord was laid.' Re
member the key to the book of Ezra Is
The house Of the Lord" n phrase used
fifty times in the book. The thoughts
Of this lesson cluster around the work.
and the workmcm and the offerings.
and the willing hearts Jesus delight
ing to do the Fathers will and always
about His Fathers business G's VI, 8;
John viii, 30 is our pattern in all our
daily life
LESSON Il.-Encouragcments alag ~,
10 Golden text Ps cxxvii. y. Except
& I hull la. har loltg in
vain that build it." Read the four books
of IIaggai. Zcchariah, Ezra and Nehemiah
Those who ARE used of God must he strong
and Of good courage-stroDg to do-and
this will come only by n knowledge of God
Josh. j. Z. o; Dan. xi. By Isrnel, like the
ten spies. saw the discouragemeuts. but
we must be like Caleb and Joshua. and see
only God and make His business the first
concern Of our lives When we put our
affairs first. all will come to naugh;
LESSON IV.-Joshus. the High Priest
(Zech iii. 10 Golden text OTeb iv. 40.
We have n great High Priest that is
passed into the heavens, Jesus, the Son of
God" One of satans ways of discour-
aging people is to point them to their sin
fulness and tell them that God cannot use
such unworthy ones ~ they are. II is all.
too true that we are sinful and unworthy
but Jesus, our High Priest, is our right
eousness I'll Cor. V, % and our comeiness
(Ezek. xvi, ~. and having accepted Him
He stands for us against all aCcusers and
will use just such rs we are rs vessels
through which He will accomplish His
pleasure phil. ii, 13; Heb. xiii. 20. 2D
LESSON V.-The Spirit of the Lord Zech
iv, 1-10) Golden text (Zech. iv. g.. "Not
by might. nor by power, but by my Spirit,
saith the Lord of Hosts" No work of God
can be done by human wisdom. Moses had
no say whatever i'm the design of the tab
ernacle, nor had David or Solomon in the
temple; the former was to he made accord
ing to the pattern shown him in the mount.
aud the latter was given to David by the
Spirit of the Lord (Ex. XIV, 40; Chron.
xviii. 19).
LESSON VI.-Dedicating the Temple CEz.
vi. 1422). Golden text Dps. cxxii, u, 81
was glad when they said unto me- Let us
go into the house of the Lord" Hapgai
and Iechariab. the Lords messengers. be-
ing strengthened themselves by the words
and visions of the Lord, so encouraged the
people that the building was finished. and
with great JOY dedicated unto the Lord.
LESSON V1I.-Nehemiah's PRAYER CNeb.
/. LID. Golden text (Ps. XXX, 100. Lord.
be Thou my helper" Nehemiah, in the
kings palace at Babylon hears of the des-
Citations of the Holy City, the wall broken
down and the people in great affection and
reprOach, and he is SO affected that he weeps
and mourns and fasts and prays for several
days. Identifying himself with his people.
he confesses their sins and reminds Jeho-
yah of His promises. The result was that
the Lord inclined the king to let Nehemiah
go TO Jerusalem with authority to rebuild
the walls Of the city.
LESSON lI.-Rebuilding the Wall (Neh.
iv, 9-E). Golden text (Neh. iv, %. 1--WE
made our prayer unto our God and set a
watch against them" Both men and
women Of all occupations were ready and
joined Nehemiah in the work of building
the wall. for the people had mind to
work (Neh. iv. 81. But when anything is
really being done in the Lords name the
adversary becomes very active, and the
opposition mt this time was something
tremendous, both ms to wiles and persist
ence. Let us consider well Nehemiah's
strength and be strong in the Lord.
Lesson IX.-Reading the Law (Neh viii
l-1e). Golden text ops. cxix. 49,. Open
thou mine eyes, that / may behold won
drous things out OF thy law" The temple
and the walls may be built, but they may
be thrown down again. There Is Just one
thing on earth that can never pass away
THE Word Of our God shall stand forever"
Osa. XII, ~. We are to read il, and believe
IL, aad thus under stand il, an. then do it.
for He that doeth the will of God abidetb
forever" q John II. ~.
LESSON X.-Keeping the Sabbath CNeh.
xiii, 1922. Golden Text (Ex. Xxx, 81, RE
member the Sabbath day to keep 1t holy"
One-seveDth of our time and one-tenth of
our money should be cheerfully given
wholly up to God for His service az the
very least we can offer on those two lines.
IL we are redeemed. then we are all His.
all time, money, talents, everything: but It
J. rrst 10 NAB Hi'n .-. ~ ~. .....
ard toni - hegiu .al l. H.. as NJ
dividuals see that we conse.entiously keen
the Lords day on the lines Of lisa. lviii.
Is, IA, and pray for our rulers that they
may have grace TO do as Nehemiah did.
LESSON XI.-Esther Before the King
(Est. Nv, 10-17; v. l-3). Golden Text prov.