The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1897-05-27
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LESSON TX, SECOND QUARTER, IN
TERNATIoNAL SERIES, MAY 30.


stearns.
IA. "What doth 10 profit, my brethren
though a man say he hath faith and have
not works. Can faith save himY The r.
V. SAYS, "Can that faith save himg' IheF
are no contradictions in the teaching OF
Scripture, and one OF the plainest doctrines
in all the book, taught even in this lesson
by the Spirit, through James (verse 23I
is that the only salvation revealed to Us Is
that which has been fully wrought out for
us by the Lord Jesus Christ without any
help of ours, and which we must receive
by faith as free gift from God. see Rom.
iy, 8; Eph. ii, s; Titus iii, 8. lt is most
Enthusiastically clear that we are saved by
faith alone But IL is just rs clearly taught
that the evidence of that faith will be seen
in our daily lives by our walking in the
good works prepared for us. See Eph. II,
10; Titus iii s. A faith that does not pro-
duce good works and "A holy life Is not
genuine, but is an empty name.
10, 16. IF a brother or sister be naked
and destitute of daily food, and one of You
say unto them Depart in peace, be We
warned and filed Notwithstanding ye give
them not those things which arc needful
TO the body What doth 10 proht:' Or as
John says "My little children, let Us not
love i'm word neither in tongue, but in
deed and i'm truth Il John iii, ls). Jesus
Himself said My mother and My broth
rem are these which hear the word of God
and do it, luke viii, 2D. And again,
"Not every one that saith unto Me Lord,
Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heay-
en-; but he that doeth the will of My Fa-
ther, which is i'm heaven" (Math. vii, 2I.
II. Gwen so faith, if it hath not works,
is dead, being alone" or, as i'm the mar
gin, "by itself. Faith cometh by hear
ing the word of God (Rom. X, 17)-that is,
by receiving the word of God, and the
word of God is incorruptible seed which, is
sure 10 grow. Faith receives Christ into
the heart, and Christ in us cannot be hid
any more than He could be hid in the
house in the borders of Tyre and Sidon
Mark vii, 2D. You walk by field in
which not green blade is TO be seen, al
though it looks as if it had been sown, and
the farmer says that he sowed it with good
seed three months ago. Either the seed
was no good or was destroyed after being
sown, or the farmer lied.
[ is. "Yea, II man may say, Thou hast
faith and l have works. Show me thy
faith without thy works and / will show
thee my faith by my works. The r. v
margin begins this verse, but some one
will say" We can talk faith, but we can
not show faith except by our deeds. 1t is
the same with love- God does not need
our works TO prove our faith, for He can
read the heart, but He tells us that believ-
ers should be careful to maintain good
works because they are good and profitable
unto men Titus iii, s.. Not only profit
able to those who do the works, for we are
to be rewarded according to our works
(Rev. xxi, 12; l Cor iii, s, 14), but profit
able TO those who, seeing the good works,
may be led by them to Him who worketh
in us both 20 win and to do of His good
pleasure phil ii, 49,.
-. "Thou believest that there is one
God Thou docst we'll The devils also be-
lieve and trcmblc." The r.. V. says
"shudder' instead of tremblc, and the II.
V. margin says demons" instead of dcy
lis. There is but one devil though there
are hosts OF demons, his followers. One
has said that there are no atheists or in
fdcls I'm hell All who are there believe in
the realities of he'll and the devil, of God
and of heaven, but they cannot believe on
SSale Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. Those
who die i'm their sins can never come where
Christ is John viii, 2D. Therefore it is
written, Because there is wrath, beware
lest lie take thee away with His stroke.
Then a great ransom cannot deliver thee"
dob xxxvi, Isl. 1t is greatly to be feared
that many protesting Christians are no
better, as far as salvation is concerned,
than the demons who believe and shudder.
They believe all about God and Christ and
have been received into church member
ship because of this knowledge, backed up
by good moral character. But having
never truly received Christ (John j, 12),
they continue lost souls.
20. "But wilt thou know, O vain man,
that faith without works Is dcadY' The
knowledge of God and of Christ that does
not lead one 60 receive the Lord Jesus
Christ into his heart Will only prove Il
greater condemnation. This class of pco-
pie is described in Heb. vi, 4-6, as enlight-
enod, tasted the gift, knew somewhat of
the Spirits teaching But if the continu-
ance in grace and good works is lacking,
then il is evident that they merely believed
about Christ, but never truly received
Him. In III Pet. ii, 20-22, we read again
of such as were TO some extent benefited
by their knowledge, but were never truly
new creatures
q. WAS not Abraham our father justi-
fled by works when he had offered Isaac
his son upon the ALTAR" This was the
outward and evident justification before
men, for we are justified freely by grace,
meritoriously by the blood OF Christ and
fundamentally by faith (Rom. iii, "a; V,
g. IL, and there is no conflict or contrad,c
ton in these statements. Abraham rested
for 20 years on the bare promise Of God
Then Isaac was given. After he had
grown TO be n lad God tried his servant e.
see if he was still resting on the promise
or upon the visible Isaac Now, God knew
his servants heart and did not need e
prove him that God might know, but thai
all generations might see that Abraham
rested not in the visible gift of God, bu
in God Himself and His sure word.
%. "Seest thou how faith wrought will
his works and by works was faith made
perfect" Faith, the germ, works tn
manifestation. IL is written In Heb. XII
1919, that Abraham, when he was tried
by faith offered up Isaac, in whom tn
promises were to be fulfilled, believing
that God was able TO raise him up ever
from the dead, from whence also he re
ceived him in figure In Rom. iv, 1921
II n.