The Farmville herald. [volume] (Farmville, Va.) 1890-1934, 1907-03-01
ABRAHAM PLEADING
FOR SODOM
Sunday School Lesson for March J. 1907
sn..i.ll, nlerarnA Or lhIa papel.


LESSON TENT.-Gensis isld-2 Men.
DRY verses. $50
GOLDEN TENT. men oueht always
20 pray and not 20 faint Luke lNI
TlME.-About 10 years after last les
PIACE-rho oaks OF Mcmre at He
sSRrPTrRAI REFERENCES,-lnter-
,.sso~v PRAYER. tx S2.2. g.. $40; Josh.
Us. Judr 5.5l. sam. 1871 l Kings SIS.
-. 81. so. ! Chron. sis. 70. 2 Chron.
NlS. lisa o2I. Dan. 9l7. Luke. 2'St;
Acts 7.60: Rom. lQI; Eph. li6-is' Col
1.g. Heb. 1890. etc. illusions 90 sodom
pcut 1898 comp. S2.Sg. lsa. l.9, 5s.
Jer. 8I4. NlS. 500; Lam. as. Eek
1915. a.. 50. IS: Amos All. Zeph 2s.
Matt 1918 comp Jude Z. 2 Pct goo
Matt 1924. Mark ell, Luke 1922 li.-s
Comment and Suggestive Thought.
In this story we have an example OF
one way In which God trained the
world 10 know and to realize that he
Is in the world and knows and is con
cerned with all that 1t going on here.
Angels, one Of them being the angel
OF Jehovah" came in human form TO
Abraham sitting at his tent door. TO
bring him a message Of assurance. and
10 see the great wickedness oil the
cities Of the plain.
There is nothing improbable in God
appearing in human form in the early
ages Of teaching spiritual things TO
men. any more than in his coming in
the human form Of Jesus Christ, and
for the same reason, namely, to i'm
press indelibly and wildly upon the
human race the reality Of the presence
and power and character of God. They
are object lessons teaching a great
truth.
II has been a hard lesson to learn.
aud many even now have not learned
10. that God is a living power among
the affairs Of men. and participates In
them; that the word is true. Are
they not all ministering spirits sent
forth to do service for the sake OF
them that shall inherit salvation
Heb 40. and that he "maketh
winds his messengers. his ministers a
flaming fire" (Psa. 1910.
First.-As in all true prayer, it was
by praying and the answer to prayer
that Abraham became a closer friend
of God. became acquainted with him
Thus we become acquainted with
others by seeking the same end, coun-
selling together. asking and receiving;
as a son with his father.
SecOnd.-It was answered in the es-
cape Of Lot the one righteous man in |
the city. He escaped, but lost his /
home. some of his children. his flock /
and herds, and all his property. He |
escaped a poor, forlorn, seemingly /
broken down man. The poorest invest |
ment he ever made was in property |
in Sodom. He was an Illustration Of |
the apostles appeal in Cor 3:12-15.
Listen to the angels warning. Stay |
not in all the plain. II is not enough to
go outside of the walls of the Sodom
Of fragrant acts Of sin, open crimes.
and disreputable and degrading vices;
but we must not stay in that region.
but keep as far away from sin as
possible, from thoughts Of sin, from
secret sin.
Listen to Christs warning remem-
Der Lots wife. Look not back. Make
no delay in escaping from sin. Let no
regrets at the pleasures Of sin stop
your onward course to the place of a
holy life and heaven.
Che TfI r.rro1r- ftr~r, Ir~ Io,I
and look while hasting away. but
stopped behind. and the fiery storm
and eruption of liquid saline mud over
took her
Third.-Abraham' prayer was an
swered in the destruction Of SOdOm.
for that was essential to the promotion
Of righteousness which Abraham had
most at heart, and also essential to
the best good of his nephew Lot. God
often answers the soul Of our prayers
while denying the form. When little 8
child asks his father for the moon. 8
it a bright plaything, the
father answers the child's prayer by
giving him the plaything which he
really wants, and not the moon. which
be does not want. for the gift would
crush him TO death Giving him the j
moon would not be answering his I
prayer.
God wants all men TO be saved
saved first Of all from their sins for
M other salvation depends upon this. il
he longs for sinners to repent. He /
lesires with all his nature that all b
nen would so live that IL may be pos l
ible to save them But they must be
aved from sin and not in sin. There.
ore he sent his only begotten Son.
The one deadly enemy to the coun-
~ is unrighteousness. The ancient i,
ivilizations have persisted by this a
olson. Greece and Rome did not fan h
IN they were permeated with unright- el
BUSINESS. And IL ever there comes to {
ass Macaulay's vision Of some trav. L
Ter from New Zealand" who shall. IL
D the widst of vast solitude. stand on f.
broken arch Of London bridge to n
ketch the ruins Of st. Paul's," or on
rooklyn bridge TO sketch the ruins of
ew York. It will be because Of un- pi
alone. n
Practical Points. in
Jesus sees the good and the evil in m
s. as the angel Of Jehovah did when II
D came to Abrahams tent and TO
0dom.
The wicked have within them the
ements Of their own punishment RI
eir moral natures. memory. con. re-
fence. bad character. remorse. These IN m
e often dormant til Gods outward =, -
lnishment sets them afame. NJ
May the young see the doom of ril
any men around them from afar of in
Abraham saw the flames of Sodom. us
ID not suffer the doom as the Pa
dor fH..ar a 4