The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1895-07-19
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LESSON ~, THIRD QUARTER, IN
TERNATIoNAL. SERIES. JULY ~.

Aaron, offered strange fire before the Lord,
which He commanded them not" The
last lesson told us of failure on the part Of
Israel, this tells of failure in the priesthood.
Every man at his best state apart from
Cod is altogether vanity (Ps xxx, 81
This shall be fully seen when after 900
years OF the personal reign of Christ a host
of liars shall follow the father of lies when
he shall be released from the pit. See Rev.
Xxx, 10. and Ps. Xvi. 3, margin. After the
completion OF the tabernacle, Aaron and
his four sons were consecrated to the priest.
hood TO minister unto the Lord in His APP.
pointed way (Ex xviii. /; Lev. viii, l, 2;
Elk. xxx, 81.
q And there went out fire from the Lord
and devoured them, and they died before
the Lord" Thus at the very beginning Of
the priesthood Jehovah made il very plain
that he would have whole hearted service
or none So also at the beginning of the
church in the case of Ananias and Sap.
phira (Acts v, 5. l0) He showed plainly
how He hates deceit and half heartedness.
He does not often Judge so swiftly and ter
ribly, but such cases show us His mind on
these things and how He will act in the
judgment.
g. Then Moses said unto Aaron. This is
it that the Lord spake. saying, | will be
sanctified in them that come nigh Me- and
before all the people l will be glorified.
And Aaron held his peace" That they
were to be holy people unto the Lord Is
the oft repeated requirement from Elk. xix,
g. 90 EDWARDS. Jesus Himself in His great
microscopy prayer said, For their sakes
sanctify Myself that they also might be
sanctifed through the truth" John xvii,
49, G. H. NJ says that whether the fire
came TO express approval or displeasure
the priest had only to worship, and that as
priests of God we must rise superior To all
the claims and influences of nature and of
earth. When Ezekiel's wife was taken
away by a stroke, he was forbidden to cry
or mourn (Ezek. xiv, 1919. Yet Jesus
wept at the grave OF Lazarus. In Ps. xXXiX,
9, we have a parallel to Aaron's silence, Il
was dumb, opened not my mouth because
thou didst it," See also Ps. XVII 10.
4, 5. Come near, carry your brethren
from before the sanctuary out of the camp"
Thus their bodies, as in the case of Ananias
and Sapphire, were buried, but what about
Nadab and Abihui We never bury people,
temples in which they sojourned for sea
son. 1t has been great comfort to me TO
think OF this since ever i grasped the fact
that If my body ever has burial | will not
be there that day, but absent from the bod Y
and present with the Lord, with Christ,
which is far better (Pbil. /, 81, %; III Cor. v,
81. There is d vast difference between being
cut off from further service on earth as "a
saved person, and being forever cut off from
all possibility of being saved. Some of the
believers at Corinth were sick, and some
died, because of transgression q Cor ri,
30). 1t is plainly stated in Cor. iii, Ii, IL,
that it is possible to have rewards for serv-
ice, and it is possible TO lose ones works
and yet be saved.
6. Uncover not your heads neither rend
your Clothes" Mourning ofttimes has in
it large element of rebellion against God.
This we must desperately resist, lest we
find faultwith God. We must even take
sides with God, even though his chasten-
ings fall on those who are dearest to US. IL
we love our lowed ones more than we love
God, we are noteworthy of Him. The great
est lover must have the greatest love, and
in every dark and trying hour we must
still hold to this-"God is love-" and His
ways are just and true.
door of the tabernacle of the congregation,
lest We die, for the amounting oil of the
Lord is upon you" Because they were the
anointed priests of the Lord, chosen to min
lister unto Him, they were TO keep them
selves wholly for Him. The Spirit says,
through Peter, that believers are a holy
priesthood, te offer up spiritual sacrifices
acceptable To God by Jesus Christ q Pet.
ii, 8, %; royal priesthood to show forth
His praises. In Eph. iv, 80 we read that
we are not TO ,grieve the Holy Spirit of God,
by whom we are Sealed unto the day of re-
demption We shonld never desire ia any
way to 20 out from His service who hath
called us with ,snch a holy calliRg-never
in any way he conformed to the world
which lieth in the wicked one, but anointed
with. the same Spirit who anOinted Him
walk Ia His steps going about dong good
(Ac;s X, 3s)
50 And the Lord spake unto Aaron,
saying, Do not drink wine nor strong
drink, thou nor thy sons with thee. when
We go into the tabernacle of the congrega
ton, lest We die +" ln this so called tenn
perance lesson We only now at the close OF
the lesson come upon the strong drink ques
ton, and here il il in the form of prohi.
biton laid upon the servants of the Lord
when on duty 4 good word for the un.
saved who are given to drink is found in
| Cor. vi. 10, Nor thieves nor covetous
nor drunkards shall inherit the kingdom
of God" A good word for saved people in
clined to indulge themselves is that in Rom
xiv, 81, lit IL good nejther to eat flesh nor
to drink wine, nor anything whereby thy
brother stumbleih or il offended or is made
weak" The story of Rechabites in .Jer
xxXv is helpful one in this connection
As believers we are To live only unto Him
who loveth us" and lido all to the glory OF
God" (Rev. ], 5. X V; Cor X, 81 This
should settle all difficulties.
10. And that We may put difference be
Tween holy and uDholy, and between un.
clean and clean" They were, as a whole
nation, severed from other people, that they
might be the Lords (Lev. Xxx, 2G) In
Egypt, and the night they left Egypt, the
Lord put difference between His people
and those who were not His (Er. viii %.
XII, a. BY nature and by practice all are
sinners. and there is no difference a. TO the
fact (Rom. iii, %, 23) till the sinner receives
Jesus and comes under the blood. then he
becomes A saved sinner, and because of this
should have doue with the unclean aud un.