The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-08-18
INTERNATIONAL SUNDAY SCHOOL
 LESSON

S>>~>>>>>~>>>>>>S> . rHird ausrter. Lssson yIII Luke xviii, 1-14 August 10, 1906. THE JUDGE, THE PHARIsEE, AND THE PUBLICAN. TWO went to pray; or, rather, say one went to brag. the other to pray; One stands up close. and treads on i. hiGh,
 where inc other aares not send his one nearer to the altar trod. \ The other 10 the aitar's God. --Anon. Most pictorial of parables! On back ground of temple these antipodal wor- | shipers live and move and have be- | ing Jesus deals In no distractions or generaiities, no vague ratiocination. He just personifies. incarnates, con | crefes truth, In the Pharisee one sees the false and fruitless in the publican the true and successful wor- f shfper
 How true the Pharisee is to his name which signifiies "separatisti' l pollution, and to be more conspicuous, | He strikes an attitde. He is statu- esaue. He Is in full regalia of talith and phyiactery. He
 stands Up close, and treads on high" He gets as close to the holiest place as | iayman dares to tread. With outstretched palms and upturned eyes, he beeins his seif-laudasion before T thank Thee---that is a promising prelude But the next syllable dashes us with disappointment. He does not recognise God as the Author of his good character or happy environment He does not say, "But for the grace of God I might be an extortioner, pn- just, an adulterer, or publican" De- preciatson would have followed a sin- cere confession of grace. He would have cried, II am not worthy of the least Of these Thy benefits" but haughtiness and presumption are hts characteristfcs He will fain confess the pubiican's sins for him. as he has none Of his own to speak of He passes now from the denial of gross sins to the affirmation of his &C., tive pieties. Though the Levitieai law only required one annual fast, he abstained from food every Monday and Thursday. Though Moses only exact ed a tenth of certain Items in one's income, he tithes all his annual gains. So. through supereroeation. God is his debtor. superIative audacityi He pos es there is absolute compiacency be- fore the holiness of highest heaven.
 This publican, this inferior tax-col- lector, has found his way to the tenn pie with a purpose. It was uncommon thing to see one of this class on holy ground. Whatever their faults, and however numerous. hyprocraey was not one of them. They did not rose as saints. Here was an awakened sins ner. He had come up to tha holy hill to get clean hands and pure heart He had faith in the promises and pro- vision of the first covenant of grace.
 He stands on the opposite side of the court from the Pharisee. just inside the ineiosure He dares not "send his eyes" toward the sanctuary. He keeps smiting his breast with seif-accusiRg gesture, and keeps crying iA an un- prescribed but noble collect. God be propitiated toward me. the sinner. He attemps no paliiation. He confess ses T have ainned and done evil" He is In the oblivion and self-ahandon of penitence, only conscious of the Eye that is on him from above. He tries not the unYise expedient of compar- ing himself with others, He looks at himself in the perfect law of God. that mirror that hah Ho apSFthttons AAS io emptied Of self and hungsring and thirstiRg after righteousness The moral universe would have tottered to ruin had he not been flled. How long think you 1t took for his Misefere to chord Into the halieluiah of salvation.3 [ T tell you" That Is ex-cathedra. " Jesus' own decision from which there Is no appeal No one knows what be- came of the Pharisee. Of the party x.,t nf hfraGAlf if iS not deemed a matter of sufficient im- partance even to mention his exit. But in the court of highest heaven the indictment against the publican was ordered erased from the record. Henceforth, because of his penitence and faith, and through the mercy and grace of God, he was to be accounted and heme itself was transfigured by the luminous power of an inward ex- perienee.
 Now follows what a little girl aptly called "the ehiidren's gospel" Some parents, knowing that Jesus was about to leave the neighhorhood, and that another opportunity might not be ar forded, pressed forward with their lit- tie folks that they might receive the Teachers blessing. They hoped that His look and word might be caught upon the sensitive plate of the ehilds memory The disciples consider 1t an intrusion, the waste of time that might be employed In the instruction of adults.
 But Jesus encouraged their coming in the immortal words which fix une- aulvocally the spiritual status of chfldlife They, and they alone, who resemble them in spirit belong ta the Kingdom. The characteristic traits of the child--trustfulness dQcility, teach ableness, obedience. are the indispen- sable requisites for citizenship in the Kingdom of God.
 AnaIysis and Key.
 1. A Pictorial Parable.
 Two sorts of worshipers made to
 live before the reader.
 One false. fruitlesa; other, true. successful.
 2 Pharlsee: "separatist"
 self-Iaudation before Deity.
 presumption and haughtiness
 Gross sins denied.
 Active pieties affirmed
 g. Publican.
 Comes with purpose.
 Penltent. Believing.
 Depreciation; no paliiation at
 tempted.
 No comparisons.
 HunRers for righteousness.
 Miserere transposed to hallelujah.
 A Jesus' ex-cathedra conclusion,
 n tell you" Exit of pharisse un-
 noted.
 Publican goes justified"
 6. The Children's Gospel.
 Spiritual status of ehiid-iife de-
 fined