The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1902-06-20
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
Lesson in the International Series
for June ~, 19O2-Temperance
THE LESSON TEXT.
m nm ans 12.S-14A

10. Love worketh no i'll to his neighbor
therefore love is the fulfilling of the law
II. And that, knowing the time, that now
1t is high time to awake out of sleep: for
now is our salvation nearer than when We
believed.
u. The night is far spent, the day is at
hand: let us therefore cast off the works
of darkness, and let US put on the armor
of light.
10. Let US walk honestly, as in the day
not in rioting and drunkenness, not in
chambering and wantonness, not in strife
and envying.
IA. But put We on the Lord Jesus Christ
and make not provision for the flesh, to
fulfill the lusts thereof
GOLDEN TEXT.-Let us therefore
cast off the works of darkness, and
let us put on the armOa of light
Rom. 1912.
OUTLINE OF SCRIPTURAL SECTION.
The law fulfilled. Rom 3:8-10
This way to walk. .............. Rom. Bill ia
TIME.-A. D. IS.
PLACE.-Corinth
NOTES AND COMMENTS.
The People Addressed.-Pa Epis-
tie to the Romans is his most elabo-
rate work. 1t is a thorough setting
forth of the Christian religion, as he
understood it, arranged in the order of
experience. 1t begins with discus
sion of the ways in which God reveals
himself through nature and through
the law. But all men have sinned and
need redemption through faith in
Christ. Such faith leads to peace, to
freedom from the law and from bond
age to sin. 1t is Gods gift to men, and
those who believe have cause to be
grateful that they have been led by
God to believe, through the spoken
word which the apostles preach. Paul
had never seen most of the people to
whom he was writing, though chap
ter 16 shows that he had good many
friends in Rome. The church in
Rome was made up partly of
Jews, and partly of Gentiles. It
probably was quite large, having
different assembling places, but being
really one in administration. There
were great differences of opinion, how
ever, both in doctrine and in practice,
and Paul wrote in the hope ofsmaking
these differences less. Our lesson is
from the section on practical duties,
which includes chapters 1918. The vir-
tues on which Paul dwells are sin
cerity, kindness, honesty, purity and
brotherly love, and the manifestations
of them which he advises are those
which indicate forgetfulness of self
and mindfulness of God and our fell
low men.
The Law Summarized.-Th chapter
opens with an exhortation to loyal
citizenship, in the course of which Paul
bids Christians pay their taxes Tvs. 6,
z, as we'll as render reverence to those
who, under God, hold power. The
word "dues," which he uses in this ex-
hortation, is the same in origin as the
word "owe," with which the lesson be-
gins, and the opening injunction is in
serted, because of that association.
The command is, of course, not against
business debts, without which multi
tudes of'people could not live, but is
against the too prevalent habit of liv-
ing beyond ones means and contract
ing bills with no definite prospect of
being able to pay them when due.
There is one debt. however, which can
never be paid. That is the debt of
Love. The obligation of love is the
same as the obligation of law, and the
fulfillment of one of these obligations
is the fulfillment of the other. The
proof of that statement is given clear
ly and conyincingly in verses 8, 10. No
law can be mentioned which will not
be fulfilled if a man remembers the
command to love his neighbor as him
self.
The Way to Walk.-"And this" re-
fers back to all the injunctions of
chapters 10, 10. Some words, like
"you ought to do" are to be under
stood. In other words, what follows
is a reason for acting in the manner
Just described. That reason may be
summarized by some such phrase as
"the urgency of life" Salvation, by
which Paul means complete deliver
ence out of the darkness and sin of
the world, is likened to the dawn of
day. In this full sense, salvation is at
tanned only in the future life. 1t be-
gins but is not finished here. In or
der that we may be ready for the APP
preaching morning of Heaven, we
must awake out of the sleep of sin
It is not enough to be awake in the
morning; one must dress before he is
really ready for the day. So the cloth
ing of unworthy and careless conduct
must be- put off and "the armor of
light" must be put on. That phrase
suggests a manner of living which is
not only worthy of the day, but help
full iQ. doing the days work and over
coming the days difficulties. The third
step, when one is awake and dressed,
is to go out into the day in such wise
as to appear worthy of the light. Rev
cling and drunkenness and impurity
and strife belong only to the night that
has passed away (verse 14), sums up
the whole injunction. The suitable
garb for the day is the Lord Christ's
grace and glory,
PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS.
Love is the only debt that the law of
God allows to stand.
God permits the debt TO stand only
because, in the nature of the case, it
cannot be fully discharged.
Love is the easy way of fulfilling the
law; the hard way is to observe its pre-
cepts without it.
Those who love their neighbors will
work them no injury, but, instead, will
seek their good.