The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-01-25
What the Religious World
Is Thinking About and Doing
SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON AND YOUNG PEOPLES TOPIC
COMMENTS BY WILLIAM T. ELLIS.

The international Sunday School Les
son for January 25-"PauPs Coun-
sci to the ThessaIcnians," | Thess.,
5:14-23. (The entire EpistIe is to
ready
Proverbs are as powerful as laws.
A peoples sayings affect it's life more
directly than the enactments Of it's
legislatures. Men like wisdom done
up in small packages. A proverb is
remembered when a sermon is for
gotten. Short sentences stick like
little burrs. On the walls Of a thou
sand business offices throughout the
land may be seen the terse preach
ments, DO it now" Talk happiness"
etc. Not only are sentence sermons
easily remembered, but they are ca
pable of individual Interpretation, as
we'll; they do not explain too much.
The Bible abounds in these bits of
condensed wisdom; one entire book
of the Old Testament is composed Of
them. The wise missionary apostle
whose doingS and writings are now
being studied by the Sunday schools
OF the world for six months, knew full
We'll the effectiveness Of summing up
his fundamental teachings in this, his
grammatic sentences, that could be
easily grasped, remembered, and I'M
derstood. So he winds up his letter to
the converts at Thessaloniea, (about
which city we studied last week. with
| this budget of aphoriSms, which are
| as applicable today as they were two
thousand years ago. Here are the
dozen that are to be studied today:
"Admonish the disorderIy."
Encourage the faint-hearted."
support the weak"
BE long suffering toward au.''
Rejoice always"
Pray without eeasing"
I'm everything give thanks"
| "Quench not the Spirit"
| 'Despise not prophesying"
! Prove all things"
| Hold fast that which is good"
Abstain from every form of evil"
These are followed by the benedic-
| ton and closing words with which
| Paul concludes his letter.
Brave in Rebuking.
Joseph Parker, the famous London
preacher, who recently died, once
caused a sensation by publicly rebuk-
ing the Prince Of Wales for his
gambling proclivities. 1t took cour-
age to utter those words, but they
were salutary. 1t should not be for
gotten that the Christians duty is to
bear witness against the bad, as well
| as to bear witness for the good. When
u Farkhurst, or other fearless preach
| er of righteousness, rises up and con-
| dennis IN thunder tones the iniquity
/ OF city, there are many to cry out
| Stick to your proper business He
is doing so. The servant of God must
| "admonish the disorderly." 1t is as
much an obligation upon q disciple Of
| Christ to testify against evil as It is
to keep sweet under adversely. Let 1t
| be said frankly that for a Christian
to tolerate wickedness without bear
ing faithful witness against it, is a sin
against the word of God.
The Gospel of the Helping Hand.
If the Gospel does not make a per-
son a good brother to his felPw men,
it is a future in his case. Jesus
| went about doing good" and left his
| example for mis- followers. All through
his ministry, as Prof. Drummond
points out, he was largely occupied
in doing simple little kindnesses to
| common people. Paul was writing
in the spirit of the Master when he.
put into this letter the two brief eX-
| hortations. Encourage the faint
! hearted, support the weak" On every
| side of us are men ready to go down
| in despair; God forgive US that we so
! often give them criticism instead Of a
| cheer! If we but knew how heavy is
| our brothers burden we would Of
tener put our shoulder under 1t. For
| that is a principal part of the Chris
| tian's business in hfe-helpfng peo-
| pie.
An American Weakness.
Americans are a quick witted peo-
! pie, and therefore impulsive. Patience
| is not one of our dominant national
virtues. The way we treat our he
ro1s illustrates this. At first we grow
/ delirieus over their achievements and
| shower them with all manner Of hon
ors, and then, at the first sign that
| they are human, we pillory them with
Scorn, ridicule and abuse. AS a nation
we have not learned the lesson set by
Paul for the Thessalonians BE long
suffering toward all men," This is a
| virtue for strong characters impa-
| thence belongs to the weak, but for
| bearance is mark of the mature and
| the wise. The person or institution
or cause which has learned how to
| wait has also learned how to win.
A Religion Of Sunshine.
There are several sunshine" songs
| that are popular with Sunday schools
! and churches, and if we seek the
| Bible authority for them we may find
| 1t in Paurs counsel, Rejoice always"
| A mournful Christian is a contradict
| ton in terms. Every disciple Of Jesus
| should be known by his uniform of
| joy, which is beautiful In the eyes Of
| all. So wonderful is the religion of
! Christ that it makes it possible for a
| Christian to live rejoicingly at all
| times and under every conceivable
hardship. One Of the precious mem
cries of the church is the host Of mar
tyrs who have gone to death with songs
on their lips.
The Life Looking Upward.
The great apostle knew and so have
thousands since his day that it is pos
/ sible for a Christian to live with his
| life so directed Godward that he may
| be said to pray without ceasing." One
need not be consciously engaged in the
exercise of prayer at all times to fulfill
this command; it is more an attitude
Of the soul than an act Of the win.
For dependence upon God is prayer,
even when there is no definite or ex-
pressed petition.
For What Shall We Give Thanks?
BY a curious twist of human nature
| men expect to be thanked for every
kindness they do, or else they will
cease to do it. We count it sufficient
justification for disseminating any
service that we "got no thanks for it."
| What if the Lord should treat us that
| way! Yet God does require graft