The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-09-19
INTERNATIONAL SUNDAY-SCHOOL LESSON
Copyright, Davis W. Clark.) E4xHSEe<SAEAA@<@s<E<@e<

Save for my daily range
 Among the pleasant fields of Holy writ. I might despair -Tenyson. Third Quarter. Lesson XII. 1 Peter
 iv, 1-11 September %, 1908.
 Abstinence from Evil. [,
 Perhaps no paragraph of the New Tes- lament sets out in sharper contrast the Christian ideal of life against the heathen ideal than this It Is done with consum- mate skill. The art Of antithesis was never used more effectively. The first step is to put the will Of God in opposition to what is termed the will of the Gen. tiles. or otherwise the pagan notion of the ultimate good. E.
 The God whom the Christians adore is manifestly an infinite remove from the best of heather divinities. Holy himself he can not look upon the least degree of sin with the least degree of allowance Those who would have fellowship with God, who is light and in whom is no darkness, must themselves walk in the light. The call to saintllness Is impera- tive and rises from the very being Of God. Again. he who worships this God who is Love, must himself be character ized by an unceasing love for others. He must, in his finite sphere, initiate God who has provided a covering for sin. He, too must be disposed to cover others ofYenses with charity.
 All this is in diametricaI opposition to the twill of the Gentiles;" f. c.. their ideal of life. No wonder they think 1t strange. It is a brand-new notion Of what all the world is seeking-the highest good. It is an incomprehensible novelty. The nameless practices of idolism, the gluttonous fondness for the table. the carousals upon on the street, the de- bauching drinking bouts. unclean excess es-these were the impulsive characteris- tics of current heather life.
 The introduction of the Christian life into pagan society was of the nature of a moral revolution. It's consequences sur passed in importance all the battles and diplomacies of antiquity. The method of its introduction was unique. It came not with observation. No blare of trumpets or tread of armed men. It was. as its founder said like yeast, hid in the meal, unseen, unheard, but a force to lift. The moral gains of the introduction of Chris tianity are incalculable. We are 90 fa- miliar with its standards that 1t is, diffi- cult to appreciate what society waf like before they were lifted. Life and liberty were not considered sacred. There was no general benev0lence and philanthropy It is said that among all the ruins of an- tiquity you can not find the foundations of an orphanage or hospital. The history of human progress under Christianity has been faithfully pictured by Charles Lor- ing Brace in his Gesta Christi. No candid person but will admit that there were many saintly lives lived, many noble sen- timents expressed. but 1t will also be ad- mitted that, before the introduction Of Christianity, the standards were low and the human mass as a whole ignoble.
 The new system was in imminent peril on its introduction. A fierce blast sought to extinguish the flame of holy living. How should 1t be screened? The very spirit of Christianity forbade it from in- trenching itself artifcially. It must not take to carnal weapons. Christianity Is a life to be lived. Its conquests depend upon its being lived in an ever-increasing number of lives. That will be the perpet- uation of 1t.
 The introduction of the Christian life in- to pagan society was of the nature Of a moral revolution. Its consequences sur pass in importance the effects of the bat ties and diplomacies of antiquity. But these results could be conserved only by maintaining the Christian life in its best type, and perpetuating 1t. The odds | against this were considerable. Old hao'
 it's recently renounced were liable to re- | assert themselves. The ridicule and criti | cism of the Gentiles would be more ol | less keenly felt. The subtle power Of en