The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1905-08-02
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LESSON VI. THIRD QUARTER, INTER
NATIONAL SERIES, AUG. 6.

Text. Feel. Xii. - Commentary
Prepared by REV. ID. VI. Stenrns.
(C"ryr:gi:. 1905 lay American Press AsSocia'l'H.l
In the conflict OF the ages recorded
in The Scriptures between Go'l and the
devil for man and mans dwelling
pla,.c we see those who stand with tn'l
and for whom God works and those:
WHO stand with the devil against Goa.
And so it shall 90 on until tile great
conflict OF which We read in Key. Mn
1921. when the enemy shall he over
thrown and the leader shut mp III the
bo,tomlcss pit for L thousand Years
and the earth shall enjoy L reign OF
righteousness and peace.
Josiah was one OF the few who did
right in the sight OF the Lord and real
iZcd a fulti!lmcnt of II Chron- NVl, y.
lie was one Of seven in the Scriptures
who were named before their birth by
Him who knowcth all things and de-
clareth the end from the beginning.
Nearly 200 years before his birth he
was named by God as one who Oh ccr-
tain affairs would burn mems bones,
and he did Compare | Kings Nil, :,
ana n Kings xiii, il. HcZekiah cX-
ccllcd all others in the matter OF trust
ing in the Lord" but Josiah cXccl!ed IN
"iuruinc to the Lord III Kings xviii.
;: xiii. 25). TO do right in the sight OF
the Lord without turning 10 the right
hand or to the left and to please Him
in all things is All attainment 10 which
rnlv one perfectly reached, but by Ills
GRACE al believers might come much
nearer to it if they desired it as much
rs Elisha desired that which he SouSnt
through Elijah the day that they were
parted b. i whirlwinG.
Josiah began by getting himself right
with God. for in his sixteenth year he
sought tie God OF David, bis father,
evidently with the whole hcartcdness OF
Tor. xxx, l% PaulS advice to Timothy
WAS to firsi take heed to himself Il
Tim. iv, l6l, and our Lord taught US
that il we would get the notes out OF
other peoples eyes We must hrst Sct
the beam out OF our Own eye (Matt. VII.
-. The first thing Cor each iDdividua
is 4 right relationship to God. anu THIS
can be obtained only by receiving Ills
Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. and IN linn
the forgiveness of all our sins and 4
righteousness which makes us accepted
in Him and gives us the standing Of
children and heirs Of God and joint
heirs with Jesus Christ John i. j.;
Enh. j. &. =: Rom. viii, 1G. Id. This be-
inc established and We assured Of 1t by
the Spirit through the word, we are
then as ambassadors OF Christ author
lied to move forward On behalf OF the
interests Of His kingdom.
When Josiah was twenty, or in the
twelfth year Of his reign, he, being
himself purified. began to purge Judah
and Jerusalem from her idols and idol
atry, doubtless remembering and obey
Ing the Lords words at the founding
Of the nation, Il am the Lord thy God;
r. thou shalt have no other gods DC
fore Me-" When an individual or ma
ton has heard and seen Jehovah idols
are no longer tolerated (Hos xiv, s.
In II Kings xiii, LII. there is I more
full account of the cleansing Of the
land. and there we learn that it was
preceded by Josiah'S reading to the eld-
ers and TO the people all the words OF
the book Of the covenant which was
found in the house Of the Lord. 1t is
the word OF God that sauctifies and
cleanses CEohn xvii. Il; EDh. Y, 26; rs.
cxiN, III.
The burning Of the bones Of men up
Oh the affairs (verse 5, is more fully &c
scribcd in II Kings xiii, 1o-1S, and
when compared with the prophecy ut
tered nearly 300 years before, referred
to earlier in this lesson, we cannot but
be reminded Of such words as 1sa. xiv,
q; XVI, 10; rs. xxxiii. 10, II. 10 know
thc purpose Of God, the eternal pur-
pose which He purposed In Christ
! Jesus our Lord" (Eph iii, 1D, and to
live in that purpose IS the greatest OF
all honors conferred upon mortals, and
it is open to all.
The last part Of our lesson tells OF
Josiuhs efforts 10 repair the temple
and TO undo the harm which had been
done by other kings Of Judah (ycrse
III, for though ManasSeh endcavorcd to
undo some Of bis great wrongdoing his
son Anon walked in his first ways and
trespassed more and more (cLapter
yXxiiiJ. The tabernacle first, then the
temple, was the center of Israel as
Il nation, for there God dwclt in their
midst (EX. XXv, s., and the neglect Of
Coils dwelling place meant the neglect
of God Himself Read the first chapter
Of Uagga and sec what God thought
OF their neglect Of His house after thelr
return from Babylon and how He dealt
with them because of it. When our
Lord WAS on earth the temple building
was in goo$. condition. but the worship
therein waa hypocrisy, and they had
introduced business into its courts, SO
ministry II clean>cd the temple. The
majority CT people either wholly neg
lcct God or render Him 4 formal wor-
ship. which is worse than none 1T all.
for He seckcth those to zorShip Him
who will worship Him in spirit and in
truth. Believers are the temples Of the
Holy Spirit, mansions in which Father,
Son and Spirit dwell (John xiv, II. %;
l Cor vi. 10, 20l, and if we would know
the power Of God in and through us we
must be willing 10 be undefled by the
world CPS cXiN. T..
IN verse II Of our lesson VIC note that
the men diL the work faithfully, re-
minding us of our Lords words, Who.