El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1898-10-01
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LESSON /, FOURTH QUARTER, INTER-
NATIONAL SERIES, OCT. 2.

Text of the Lesson, LII Chron. xiv, e.Ie.
! Memory Verses, 2-5 - Golden Text, II
! Chron. xiv, II-Commentary by the Rev.
/ ID. VI. Stearns.
| ?. And Asa did that which was good
and ght in the eyes of the Lord his God. -
Last quarter was spent chiefly with the
prophets Elijah and Elisha, men Of God,
and now we are to have several lessons on
| kings who were men of God. Asa was the
third king of Judah after the kingdom
was divided at the death of Solomon, and
the first to do right in the sight of the
Lord. This statement is made concerning
seven other kings Of Judah, but not once
concerning any of the kings of the ten
tribes. The throne was called the throne
of the Lord, or the throne of the kingdom
of the Lord over Israel, and the king was
said to be king for the Lord his God Il
Chron- xxx, %; xviii, ); IL Chron.
tx, 81.
3. He took away the affairs of the
strange gods. Although the law of God
said, Thou shalt have no other gods be-
fore me" (Ex. Xxx, b, yet Solomon in
troduced many strange gods to please his
wives, and both Rehoboam and Abijah
continued the idol worship. 1t is difficult
To go against the customs of your father
and grandfather, but Asa feared God rath-
er than man and was determined to do
right before Him.
4. "And commanded Judah to seek the
Lord God of their fathers" In verses 3
and of the next chapter we read that
Israel had been for a long season without
the true God, and without a teaching priest,
and without law, but when they turned
to the Lord and sought Him He was found
of them. In verses IL and Is we read that
they sought Him with all their heart and
soul, even with their whole desire. and He
gave them rest round about. The Lord
takes heed to our hearts rather than our
words and will fulfill the desire of them
that fear Him.
o. 1.-The kingdom was quiet before
him." Verse 1 says, "In his days the land
was quiet ten years. Quietness is one of
the great gifts of God which shall yet be
fully enjoyed not only by all Israel but by
all the world, when 1.-The work of right
eousness shall he peace, and the effect Tor
service) of righteousness shall be quietness
and assurance forever" lisa. xxi, 10. In
quietness and in confidence is strength,
and the ornament of a meek and quiet
spirit is in the sight of God of great price
lisa. xxx. 10; Pet. iii, -.
q. The land had rest, because the Lord
had given him rest" In Joshua xiii l, it
is written that the Lord had given rest
unto Israel from all their enemies In I
that his son Solomon (peaceable) would be
a man of rest and that Israel woulu enjoy
peace and quietncss il, his days. Lido h
said concerning his son, This shall COM
fort us concerning our work, " and so he
called him NOAH. e., rest or comfort
The earliest rest is that of Gen. ii, 8,
which was broken by the devil doubling
Gods word and Gods love, and thus he
still seeks to break all rest.
= because we have sought the Lord
our God He hath given lis rest on every
side. When Solomon was about to build
the temple, he said to Hiram, 1.-The Lord
my God hath given me rest on every side,
so that there is neither adversary nor evil
occnrrent' Il Kings V, y. The rest of
the Kingdom that is coming will be glori-
GUS Qsa. xi, 1C), or, in the margin,
glory. Even now He says, Come unto
Me, and will give you rest, and 'EWhen
He glveth quietness, who then can make
troubles" (Math. XII, 2S; Job xxxiv, %. }
When. even in our ordinary daily affairs,
we allow the government to bs upon His
shoulder and the peace of God TO rule lisa
lx, 4; Col iii, 10, we will have IA glorious
foretaste of the rest of the kingdom. Some
say that they seek Him Yet do not seem to
lind Him rs their rest, but it must be that
they do not seek Him with the whole
heart t.Ier. xxx, 49,.
$40. The adversary will not allow us to
rest if he can help it, so here we have over
a million of Philippians gathered against
Asa in battle, and he has but little over
half as many with which to meet them
Wars Will not wholly cease from the Garth
until the devil is cast into the lake of fire
at tho end of the thousand years (Rev. Xxx,
7-1O), for, while the millennium will lie n
time of peace it Will end with a great
war. Israel had no reason to fear her enc
mics however numerous, for the promise
of God was that one should chase "A thou
sand and two put COCO to flight The
deliverancc from Egypt and the conquest
of the Canaanites with the many deliver
anceS and victories in the DAYS of the
Judges and in the tire of David would
strengthen the hands OF any one who
feared God. David could say. 81 will not
be afraid of ten thousands OF people that
have set themselves against me round
about. ~ Though Il host should encamp
against me. 10y heart shall not fear Cps.
iii. q; xvii. >; Xvi, !, y. |
il. And Asa cried unto the Lord his
God and said. Lord, it is nothing with
Thee TO help, whether with many or with /
them that have no power. Jonathan said /
to his armor bearer, 1T may be that the /
Lord will work for us. for there is no re-
straint to the Lord to save by many or by l
few" Il Sam. xiv, g.. The greatest him |
drance to the Lords work is generally our i
no proverb much more unscriptural than /
this, that God helps those who help them
selves. In the matter of salvation it IL
only the lost and helpless and uneodly |
for whom it is provided. ana it has been /
provided wholly by our Lord -.Tesus Christ
and is given freely To every penitcut sin
ner. In the daily life for God it j. God
who works all our works III Us and tor us
lisa. XVI, 12). Ho delivers the needy. the
poor also and him that hath no helper
lPs. lxXii l2). When Gideon had only
81, 600 men agains1 all inpumerablc host,
the Lord said to him. The people that are
with thee are TOO many. lest Israel vaunt
themselves against me, saying, Mine own
hand hath saved me- (Judg. vii, 81.
God must be glorificd in all things and no
1esh dare presume to glory in His presence
i Cor. i, 30, 81; lisa. ii. II. Il, 22). If we
Are living in the name of the Lord and |
seeking only His glory, no man or demon |
IAN prevail against MS or even touch us |
without Gods permission.
Il. so the Lord smote the Philippians |
before Asa and before Judah They were |
before the Lord and before His |
lost (verse l3). Yet when the king of |
israel came against \ Sn in the thirty l