The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1901-08-14
THE SABBATH SCHOOL
INTERNATIONAL LESSON COMMENTS
FOR AUGUST Ie.

xviii., 1e-3s-Go1den Text, James ",
16-Memory Verses, 23-25-Commen-
tary on the Days Lesson.
Introduction.-Our lesson contains the
preliminary events of one of the most aw-
full tragedies in the worlds history. The
cup of Sodom's iniquity was full, making
God is merciful yet He will not always
strive with man, and there is line which
individuals or nations cannot cross with
impunity. The only safe place is in the
mountain, far away from the smoking
plain. In Abraham's prayer we see his
great faith, his humility, his charity and
his boldness.
1e The men" The uth three e. angels Ygsla
there is mercy, so he is the God to whom
vengeance belongs" They looked toward
Sodom for the purpose OF destroying it..
event with them" Public roads did not
exist and %sss3 s%3dess Eye TeSs nsfsbsssFy bss
hide" ds abr Abraham anu was the the Il Friend" n OF Of
God, and Communication of secrets is one
of the special privileges of friendship"
The way to know the divine purposes
about this present evil world is not to be
mixed up with it in its schemes and specu-
lations, but to be entirely separated from
it. 9The more closely we walk with God,
the more we shall know His mind about
every thing. ''Thing which do. Which
I purpose doing, or am about to do. God
gave Abraham the look of kindness and
love, but to Sodom it was look Of indig.
nation and wrath. The right hand of the
judge implies his left.
l8. Mighty nation" The Jewish ma.
ton. "Shall be blessed in him" "The
1rorlJv mould ba hlaooo6 IN tho Mooaia h
that was to spring from Abraham.
10. II know him" His character and
destiny. "Will command his children"
He not only prayed with his family, but
he taught and commanded them, and was
prophet and king, as well as priest. !"
Abraham made it his business to promote
practical religion in his family, and this is
given as the reason why God would make
known to him His purpose concerning So
dom.
%. "Cry-is great" That is, these cities
have sinned very grievously.
2l. ~ will go down." will inquire
into the facts. God could not have been
in doubt, but He desires to show to Abra.
ham that He was not judging hastily, or
without full knowledge Of all the faets.
angels who accompanied Jehovah were
now sent toward Sodom. while the third,
which is called the Lord or Jehovah, re-
mained with Abraham. AS God is never
seen in any bodily shape, consequently the
great angel of the covenant, Jesus Christ,
must be meant.
q. Abraham drew near" ~ In bod
ily presence, (2) in spiritual nesrness, (3)
in holy fervency, az with boldneas, (5 in
humility, (6) with confidence. wilt Thou
also destroy" 1t is principle Of justice
that the righteous shall not be punished
for the crimes of the wicked, and this
Abraham lays down as the foundation of
his applications.
"a. Fifty righteous" These we're more
righteous than, existed m the city. We
would not even know that Lot was right
eous had not the apostle Peter told us.
But true charity and goodness always hope
the best and not the worst.
Is. "Shall not the Judge-do right"
Abraham must have had divine teaching
concerning the fact that Jehovah was the
worlds Judge" This implies that God
would certainly do right, although Abra-
ham might not see how.
26. IF I fnd-I will spare" So faith.
fully would God protect His chosen ones
when appealed to by Abraham in their be.
half. Nor does this 60 to show that He
will not protect them unless urged to do
so by Others. 1t does show, however, the
power and value of prayer.
q. Dust and ashes" Dust is. my ORR
gin and ashes is my end. By these ex.
pressions he shows how deeply his soul
was humbled in the presence of God. They
who stand nearest to God are the most
humble. The boldness of prayer must be
2s. There shall lack" The safety of
the city being granted on the condition
that fifty righteous could be found, Abra-
ham takes courage and asks still larger
things. He drops to forty-hve, then to
forty, then to thirty, then to twenty, and
finally to ten. He was climbing he'ladder
of Aope and faith; with each promise he
took courage to ask for more; he grew
into larger visions of Gods goodness.
80. "But this once" Abraham's inter.
cession was limited because the interces-
sor was but man; it did not reach the
need. He said, will speak yet but this
once, and there he stopped short, as it
afraid of having presented too large draft
at the treasury of infinite grace, or forget
ting that faiths check was never yet dis
God was not able to give, for there was an
abundance of grace and patience in Him
to have hardened to His servant had he
proceeded to three or one; but the servant
was limited, and afraid OF overdrawing his
account. He ceased to ask and God ceased
to give. Not SO our blessed Intercessor;
of Him it can be said, He is able to save
to the uttermost-seeing He ever liveth
to make intercession." May our hearts
cling to Him in all our need, our weakness
and our conflict.
SO. "The Lord went His way" The an;
gel-Jehovah-with whom Abraham had
been communing, went His way. Abra-
hams prayer was answered, though not IN
the way he expected. !. The righteous
were delivered from the city. 2. BY the
destruction of the city righteousness was
promoted. Sin was bringing forth death;
such vile cities would contaminate and cor
rupt the race; the cancer must be cut out,
lest the whole being be destroyed.
In CHAPTER 10 we have an account OF the
destruction of Sodom and the CITIES of the
nlain. The two angels that left Abraham
went to Sodom ne: y, where they were
received kindly by Lot, but shamefully
used by the people OF Sodom. The angels
told Lot to warn his friends to fee, for
thew had been sent to destroy the city. In
the morning the angels hsstened Lot. his
wife and his two daughters, telling them
to leave the city and not to look back lest
they be consumed. Lots wife looked back
and became q pillar of salt. It was not
enough for Lot to 90 outside the walls CT
the city, but they were commanded to
leave the plain. Spiritually, those VINO
stay in the plain are those who do not for
sake all their sins, and who rest IN convlc-
tion and good resolutions without having
been truly converted.