The Fargo forum and daily republican., 1907-04-27
The SUNDAY SCHOOL.
Lesson IV.--Second Quarter, Fol
April 28, 1907.
THE INTERNATIONAL SERIES.

to sl,. t5-hcnory Verses, ~, q
Golden Text, Rev. Ill tc--comnaentary
| Preparedsby Rcv. o. NJ. Stearns.
ICopyright. 1907, by American Press Association
], ! 1t viii help US to ever keep in mind
that frosn Gen iii 70 Rev. Xxx the con
fict is on between God and the devil
for man and his inheritance, the earth.
The righteous Lord loveth righteous
ness CPS. xi, -, but this the devil
hates. Els. work is sin and unclean-
ness and lust and murder, and he is
always after the people Of God to take
them in bis net. Too often he captures
them, and the name of the Lord fs
dishonored, but when the righteous
are overcomers God is glorified. In
chapters xxxviii and xxx we have
an example Of each, and In the former
it is the tribe from which our Lord
came that we see involved in the sin,
for 'our Lord sprang out of Judah
(Heb. vii, Id. and yet both Judah and
Tamal are mentioned in the ancestry
in Matt. /, g.. When we have clearer
light it will be one of the surprises to
see how fully the Holy One of God
identified Himself with sinners that
He might save them by the sacrifice
of Himself. Reuben, the firstborn of
Israel, forfeited the birthright, and,
though Judah prevailed above his
brethren and Of him came the chief
ruler (or prince, the birthright was
Joseph's II GllTon v, 1, p. 1r
We turn to the attractive story OF
Joseph and see him first as slave in
Egypt in the house of Potiphar. an
officer of Pharaoh, and we read. The
Lord was with him, and he was a
prosperous man" (xxxix, 2, 81, What
a different thing prosperity is in the
sight Of God and of man! Oh, that
we might see things as God sees them
and glorify Tim! Notice how Potiphar
SO trusted him that he unreseryedly
put "all that he had" into Josephs
hands, and this fact is stated five
times In verses A to. 8, with the COM
ment that from the time Potiphar did
this the blessing of the Lord was up
on his house and all that he had.
There is nothing that can compare
With the blessing Of the Lord, which
nlaketh rich and to which our toll
addeth nothing prov K, %, r. ",
inargin), aud perhaps there is nothing
which the devil hates more, for see
now his anger at Joseph. through
whom oil this blessing came. Ii he
cannot lead him into sin and thus
break his Fellowship with God, he will
perseclte him for righteousness sake,
and this he does and lands him in
prison branded as d vile man. From
being Potiphar's chief steward to a
prison what a seeming downfall!
But read verses 21-23 -"The Lord was
with Joseph, and that which he
did the Lord made it to prosper"
Prosperous as a slave and also as a
man wrongfully imprisoned!
In verse % we read that whatever
was done in the prison he was the
doer Of it. and, being faithful to God
there. the same thing was afterward
true Of him Ia all Egypt (xli, 55).
Happy are we IL our lives are so yield
ed to Him that whatever is done in or
through us He is the doer OF It. Let
US yield fully to Him. as. those who.
are alive from the dead (Rom. vi, 13),
and He will not fail to. work in us
both to will and to do all His good
pleasure (Phii II, IL; II Thess. /, IL,
-; Heb. xiii, 21). When we yield and
trust Him to wotk, we must believe
that He is working, no matter how
things seem and even though every
thing seems to be against us. Years
are passing with Joseph, and 1t is not
unlikely that the taunt OF his brethren
often came to him from the great ad-
versary.
Now, mark the steps in the working
out of Gods plan and His using and
oyerruling the most ordinary events
and His making the sin and wrath
and even unkindness of man to work
out His purposes. The offenses Of the
chief butler and the chief baker Of
The king Of Egypt cause them to be
sent to prison, and they are given In
charge of Joseph as their keeper. On
The same night each Of, them dreams
/ dream which makes him sad. and
Joseph, noticing their sadness, In
lulres the cause, and on being told
hat 1t was because no one could in
Eerpret the, dream he said; do not
interpretations belong to God2 Tel
ne your dreams verse 81 This they
lid The chief butler telling his FIRST
ind receiving from Joseph a favorable
the chief baker is en-
sougaged to tell Ills also, When 10.
seph saw the evsl In store for the
aaker. he did not In any way deceive
Tim. but told him faithfully the inter
sretation Any one who. walks with
he God Of Truth cannot but speak the
ruth under all circumstances without |
aspect OF persons
The closing verses of our iesscn con-
ain q pitifuI plea from Joseph to the |
'hlef butler showing how keenly he
cit the situation, though brayely max. |
ng the best Of it ana seeking to glori-
n God In 1t. III seems almost incred- |
BILE that FOR two fun years this man
rave JOSnnh M ffnuv1sf WI On. VII 14