The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1895-01-25
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
THOUGHTS WORTHY OF CALM
REFLECTION.
A Pleasant, Interesting, and Instructive
Lesson. and Where 1t May BE Found
Learned and Concise Rysiow OF tho
Same.
Lesson for Ian. 81.

Lesson for Jan. 81.
Golden Text-"Thou art the Christ, the
Son of the living God. Matt. 10: 16.
The Great Confession is the subject for
this week, found in Matt. 10: 1923. A
lesson of confession and a lesson, too,
of trust; for TO acknowledge Christ's di-
vine Saviorhood is TO throw ourselves, In
our own undoneness, upon the one who
saves. We are weak but he is mighty,
and for the sinner there is Savior. Take
him for yourself.
'"rhe child leans on its parents breast
Leaves there it's cares, and is at rest;
The bird sits singing by its nest,
And tells aloud
His trust in God, and he is blest
Meath every cloud.
He has no store, he sows no seed:
Yet sings aloud, and doth not heed,
by fowery stream or grassy mead
He sings to shame
Men who forget, in fear of need,
A Fathers name.
The heart that trusts forever sings,
And feels as light as it had wings;
A well of peace within it springs;
Come good or i'll,
What'er to-day, tomorrow brings
1t is his will"
"Whom do men say that / the Son Of
man amp 1t is the great question still.
AT the center of mems thinking stands
Christ But whom say YEP The word
I'VE" stands first and in the emphatic posi-
ton in the original, Ye, what do We say
about me. 1t is not so much what others
think as what we ourselves think. 'Thou
art the Christ, the Son of the living God"
There are four capitals in this sentence of
ten words. 1t is all capitals in the height
and depth of its significance. Try to
think of these words as they were first
uttered, and let the marvellous weight of
them come down upon you. They came
from beyond and above Peter and must
have well nigh taken his breath away as
he uttered them.
If anything more is needed to prove to
us that Peter was not the rock, his own
Grant and words and the stern rebuke Of
the Savior at the close of the lesson are
enough. Get thee behind me, Satan,
thou art an offense unto me for thou
savorest not the things that be of God
but those that be of men,"
Hints and Illustrations.
A good time this to ask the personal
question, What think we of Christi"
There is no one that has not some thought
regarding him, some conception of his
nature and mission, and also some idea
of his own individual relations to this
wonderful Being. Being these vague
thoughts to expression. 1t will do the
soul good Indeed all creation may be
looked upon. in one aspect, as grooming
and Travelling TO utter its thoughts of that
which is above and which gave it exist
ence.
''There is no tree that rears its crest,
No fern or flower that cleaves the sod,
No bird that sings above its nest,
But tries to speak the name of God,
And dies when il has done its best"
There are many famous confessions in
Scripture and without. The nineteenth
Psalm 1.-THE heavens declare" is natures
confession. Here in the lesson we have
Peters confession. Paul, John, James
and others each make confession of
Christ confession marked by their own
individuality in thought and perception,
but in each case true to the divine-hu-
man nature of the Christ. The Apostles
creed phrases itself as follows: IL believe
in Jesus Christ our Lord, who was con-
ceived by the Holy Ghost and born of
the Virgin Mary" The Nicene creed
reads: Il believe in one Lord Jesus
Christ the only begotten Son of God,
who for us men and our salvation came
down from heaven and was incarnate
by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary
and was made man." The Augustana
says: ut is also taught that God the
Son became and was born of the blessed
Virgin Mary, and that the two natures,
human and divine, inseparably united in
one person, are one Christ, who is true
God and man."
Here is confession of Napoleon: "The
gospel possesses secret virtue-a some
thing which works powerfully, warmth
which both influences the understanding
and penetrates the heart. The gospel is
no mere book, but living creature with
an agency, n power which cOnquers all
that opposes il. Here lies this book on
the table. l do not tire of reading il,
and do so daily with equal pleasure"
1t is worth remembering that Daniel
Webster, who one time said that the
greatest thought that had ever come to
him was that Of his individual response
bility to God, and who on visit to an
old friend converted late in life, person
ally assured him of his own conviction
of the divinity of Christ and Of the power
OF his salvation, made n plain and ex-
plicit confession on his death-bed, the
same being recorded on his tombstone at
Marshfield. On the day before the great
statesman's decease he said to his friend.
George Tichnor Curtis, II had intended
to prepare n work for the press to bear
my testimony TO Christianity, but il is
| now too late Still, l should like TO bear
witness to the gospel before / die" He
thereupon dictated the following, which
stands, as above noted, over his place of
sepIlture: Lord, l believe, help thou nv
unbelief.' Philosophical objections have
sometimes shaken my reason with regard
TO Christianity, especially the objection
drawn from the magnitude Of the uni-
verse contrasted with the littleness Of
this planet, but my heart has always as-/
sured me, and reassured me, that the pos/
| pei of Jesus Christ is n divine reality
Confess Christ. Even at the eleventh
hour confess him. 1t is our only saliva
| ton.
| Next Iesson-'The Transforro.;on